Are you rowing or sailing?

I like to work hard! I really do! It comes naturally to me – particularly when I’m captivated by an inspirational goal! I’m an ENTJ on the Myers Briggs scale which apparently means that I’m a ‘Goal-Oriented leader‘. Those who know me well, know that’s true!

I love a goal! I love the clarity and focus that a goal brings! And once I have a goal in my sights, I’ll work tenaciously hard to achieve it! Infact, it’s hard to distract me from it.

This can be a great strength but it can also be a great weakness – our weaknesses are usually the nemesis of our strengths, after all!

The problem comes when I’m trying to do all this in my strength. That’s not the way it’s supposed to work with God. In John 3:8, Jesus reminds us that the Holy Spirit is like the wind – blowing where He pleases. So my challenge is not to row like a mad man but to learn to sail, catching the wind and seeing where it leads.

Hopefully, most of the goals that keep me focused have come from Heaven, but in my experience the route to them is rarely a direct, exhausting rowing route.

I remember the first time that I sailed in a small two-man boat. I discovered that it was still hard work – but a different kind of hard work. A work that co-operates with the wind. That remains agile. Remains flexible. Embraces the twists and turns. Believes that we’ll there in the end – but there might be many breathless adventures on the way.