Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
Last year I had a dream about a friend who was in a little rowboat and had drifted way out to sea. I was alarmed and woke myself up praying for him. I went back to sleep and the Lord reminded me that my friend has a heart like King David.
When David brought the Ark of God into Jerusalem he was so passionate about the presence of God that he danced until his pants fell down (2 Samuel 6). My friend was in danger of drifting from whom God created him to be, a man passionate about living in the Presence of the Lord and knowing Him face-to-face.
Looking back on the dream I see it was a prophetic wake-up call for all of us. Paul warned us that, “somehow or another, as the serpent by his cunning deceived Eve, your thoughts may be turned aside from single-hearted devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3 Williams New Testament). Somehow or the other sums it up well. As a people we have a calling and hunger for His Presence and the devil will always work on our hearts and minds to subtly deceive us and cause us to drift away from Him. Isaiah spoke of the Lord in way that captures my heart and inspires me to stay true to whom He has called me to be; a lover of His Presence.
But there the majestic Lord will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will sail, nor majestic ships pass by. Isaiah 33:21
The key word here is ‘majestic’. You will note Isaiah used it in reference to the Lord and in reference to the ships. For the Lord, majestic is such a beautiful way to describe Him. He is our Majestic King and Savior. In Him as His sons and daughters we are also majestic. This is so important for us to realize and walk in.
In John 17:22 Jesus said He had given us, “the glory which the Father gave Him”. What is this glory He is talking about? The Greek word for “glory” here is doxa, it means having a good opinion concerning one that results in praise, honor and glory. This means that in giving us His glory, our Majestic King wants us to have the sense that we are praiseworthy, honorable and glorious because of His constant and unswerving good opinion of us! That is what makes us majestic. It takes a lot of humility to believe it.
Isaiah tells us the Majestic Lord will be for us “a place of broad rivers and streams.” This is where humility is vital. There is not a river on this earth that you step up to get into and so it is with the Majestic rivers and streams. You always step down to be in Him. It takes humility to get in and stay in. This means giving up control and direction and allowing the river to take you where it will. How do we practically do this? Fortunately, Isaiah addresses this.
Oars speak of guidance and power. For thousands of years boats were powered and propelled by either sails or the mechanical work of oarsmen, depending on the speed and direction of the wind.
James 3:4 speaks of a small rudder on huge ships setting its course. For the rowboat, the oars act as the rudder and set the course of our individual lives. So spiritually the oars speak of our tongue, the words we speak. We must know and be continually reminded that our words are our oars and they set the course of our life.
In Ephesians 5:18 Paul tells us to “be filled with the Spirit.” The image is of a sail being filled with the wind, literally the breath of God. The breath of God’s Spirit will fill our words with life and empower us to move forward into the destiny God appointed for us. Or we can use our oars, which also speak of self-effort, and row as hard as we can, but the reality is we will be drifting away from everything that truly matters.
So pull in your oars and trust the river. It will be okay.
Many Blessings, BW