Short parable: The prayerful Sea Captain, was also a powerful Sea Captain
@innertalks (20996)
Australia
May 17, 2022 10:37pm CST
There was once a sea captain who believed in his ability to safely steer his ship through any storm.
One day, a huge storm blew up, though, and with the panicking of his crew all around him, he thought to himself,
"Can I really get through this to safety, or not?"
Then he knelt down at the mast, and he prayed to God, so that all around him would hear his prayer too.
He said.
"Oh, my God. If it is to be your will, kill us all here in this storm, but if not, remove our fears, and let us fight the good fight still, without the addition of any fear."
He had prayed rightly, and the fear then disappeared from all of his crew, and eventually, the ship was saved, sailing into calmer waters, with all of the crew still alive on board too.
Then, he knelt at the mast again, and prayed once more:
"Thank you, God,"
he said.
"Fear is our worst enemy, more powerful than any storm around us. May we always realise this, by trusting in your position, and love, and power, of your always enabling your will to be done, in all of life's circumstances, for all of us here."
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
"The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else."
Oswald Chambers, (1874 to 1917) a Scottish Preacher said this.
The sea captain, in my story, simply reminded his crew of this truth.
Fearing God means to be in reverent awe of God's power, love, and truth, all around us, at all times, as it displays itself to us in different ways, in our lives.
Fearing life is not fearing God.
7 people like this
4 responses
@Nakitakona (56302)
• Philippines
18 May 22
Yes, prayer can save anyone in dangerous situation. I know that the captain's prayer is sincere and full of faith. That's it God hears the prayer of faith.
4 people like this
@innertalks (20996)
• Australia
18 May 22
Thanks. Yes, he was a true captain, and steered his ship, and his life, with God by his side, all of the time.
@innertalks (20996)
• Australia
18 May 22
@Nakitakona l wish that we all had such unwavering faith too.
@Nakitakona (56302)
• Philippines
18 May 22
@innertalks Absolutely he has unwavering faith to the Great Providence.
3 people like this
@innertalks (20996)
• Australia
18 May 22
Thanks. That is well said.
When I was in some New Age religions, they used to hate fear, saying things like it is the opposite of love, and that it is fear that causes all of our problems, and love that solves them all.
They were a bit one-pointed in their ideas.
Yes, fearing God, is respecting God, for who he is, and acknowledging his realness and greatness like you said there too.
The Christian Bible in the book of 2 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 7 says:
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Another translation uses the word 'timid" instead of 'fear" though.
"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline."
We should not be afraid of God, then, or weaklings, but we should allow his power to empower us, but at the same time, we need to still hold him in an awesome state of fear too, so, that we do not take him too much for granted, and try to use him for our own ways, rather than our always following God's ways for our lives instead.
@innertalks (20996)
• Australia
18 May 22
Thanks. The story had a good ending, and prayer helped to bring it about that way.
@innertalks (20996)
• Australia
18 May 22
Yes, trusting in God, knowing that he is there for you, removes all of your fear. God is love, and it is said that there is no fear in love, nor in God.
