Becalmed and waiting?

 In the mid-Atlantic, there is an area of becalmed waters about 700 miles across and 2000 miles long! It is called the Sargasso Sea. All around that area there are strong ocean currents, but nothing in it!  Much of it is covered with seaweed.  In modern times, plastic garbage that does not disintegrate collects there in tangles. Even the salinity of the water is higher than the ocean that surrounds it.  In the Doldrums, sailing vessels often sat at the edge of the Sargasso Sea for days making little or no progress.  What a metaphor for a life, becalmed!  Not a life of calm, nor one of peace, but one where our ship is stalled without wind in her sails.

Do you ever feel stuck in life, like the wind of the Spirit has stopped blowing;  in a place surrounded by the flotsam of life?   Alan Jamieson wrote that in such times, "the old ways of prayer, worship, Bible reading become dry and stale. The church worship and preaching that used to encourage us, teach us, and inspire us becomes barren ground.  God seems to extinguish one means of feeding our faith in order to make us hungry, even starving, for new ways. ... Now that the way is void and empty, God comes to us in new ways, if only we can perceive them. When we are becalmed, we learn to wait."   Perfect Storm, Abingdon, 2008

Are you becalmed, more like stuck, in some place -  waiting, wondering, watching?   The winds of the Spirit may be blowing, but it seems to from your point of view He moves around you, but not over you. We wonder when our ship will catch that Wind and resume forward progress, don't we?   The temptation may be to try to stir up something of God in ourselves! Weary of waiting, we may ‘just do something’ without His leading, without His power.   We need to remember that we are moved by Self, Satan, or the Holy Spirit.  Only the Spirit accomplishes the purposes of God. Even our best intentions, apart from God’s direction, cannot produce the will of God.

Remember Abraham, the father of the faithful?  God’s promise came to him.  “You will be father of many nations.  All the world will be blessed through you.”  At advanced age, he was still childless. Becalmed, as it were, in life he chose make something happen. He fathered a child by his wife’s servant. It was a different time, don’t be thrown by morality of that choice. (Genesis 16)  His true error was not waiting on the Lord.  Hagar’s son, Ishmael, became a problem in the household, rather than a blessing.  God, in His time, fulfilled His promise with the birth of Isaac. "The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would." (Genesis 21:1-2, NLT)

The Psalmist's prayer is one for those who are becalmed.  "I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.  O Israel (people of God), put your hope in the LORD,  for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption."  (Psalm 130:5-7, NIV)

Jesus' words to the disciples at the birth of the Church teach us about earnestly, expectantly, and patiently waiting for the Spirit to lead.  "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about." (Acts 1:4, NIV)  “Wait,” He said, “don't rush off, go do something half-prepared, or try to stir up a revival.”  In God's time, the Spirit moved on them. "Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting." (Acts 2:2, NIV) "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." (Acts 2:4, NIV)  Those men and women set sail to change the world!

Waiting on the Lord requires deep faith. Others may see the choice as laziness or lack of enthusiasm. Others will claim to have a vision for you. 
Here’s the word from the Word.

“But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.

They’re created new every morning.  How great your faithfulness!

I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks.

It’s a good thing to quietly hope,  quietly hope for help from God.

It’s a good thing when you’re young  to stick it out through the hard times.

When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself.
Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions:  Wait for hope to appear.”

-The Message, Lamentations 3:21-29

_________________________