“So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive.”
Acts 27:15 (NKJV)
The sailors thought the soft south wind meant they had obtained their desire. They left Fair Havens and headed toward Phoenix, believing the conditions were a sign of their future success. But shortly after they ignored God’s instruction through Paul, the gentle wind became a typhoon-strength northeaster. Instead of carrying them up the coast, the wind drove them out into rough seas.
When the ship was caught and the sailors could not turn it into the wind, they said, “Let the wind drive.” Losing control of their direction was only the beginning of their surrender. They secured the lifeboat, threw their cargo and gear overboard, and endured days without the sun or stars. Each step stripped away another possible source of security until they lost all hope of saving themselves.
The Holy Spirit is compared to wind throughout the New Testament. These men were forced to let the wind drive, but as believers, it is good to let the Holy Spirit take control of our lives. We must release our abilities, our experience, and the worldly wisdom we trust to rescue the situation. What looks like loss is often the terrifying and painful process of abandoning every way we believe we can save ourselves.
We will not let God drive if we do not recognize how much stronger, bigger, mightier, and more powerful He is. We have to give up on trying to save ourselves to receive all God has for our lives. When every hope in our abilities is gone, God brings His hope into our situation. What feels like loss becomes the place where we find living hope and a real relationship with Jesus. When our only hope is Jesus, we discover He is the only hope we could ever really have.