Should I Take the Lifeboat?

There’s a story that has been going around for years.

There’s a man, stranded in the middle of the ocean. He asks God for help. A tugboat goes by. The tugboat stops to offer him a ride. The man says, “no, thank you, I’m waiting for God.” Then a bigger boat, a sailboat, a cruise ship, a steamship. The boats get bigger and bigger, and still the man says, “no, thank you, I’m waiting for God.”
The story ends with the man dying. He arrives at heaven, and he asks God why He didn’t save him. God looks at him, supposedly, and says “ I sent you the life boat, the sailboat, etc cruise ship. Why didn’t you take one of them?”

It is often used to demonstrate how we shouldn’t just “wait around” for God to help us. We will have to take something that’s offered to us that He has sent to save us.

I totally get that understanding. We cannot sit still and do nothing always, thinking that is what faith looks like. Faith often comes with action.

However, this takeaway to me, is troubling. Would God really look at that man and ask him why he didn’t take it? Or, perhaps, maybe God would look at the man and say, “Why didn’t you ask Me? Ask me what you should have done? Instead of supposing, did you try submitting your request for direction?”

Is it faith to take a lifeboat that’s offered, or not take it?
I don’t know. It takes faith either way I suppose.
Instead of defining faith by the choice, maybe the faith is defined by the questions. And who it is that you’re turning to when you have questions and need to decide.

Do you think, study, consider, turn your head, and say yes please or no thank you. Those are fine things. But is that all?
Or do you close your eyes and turn your heart heavenward, and ask Him for the directions.

Faith is not defined by either going or staying, doing or not doing. Faith is not in a yes or a no. It is a heart condition that is looking to and trusting God, expecting that He’ll show up, and show you what to do and which way to go.

(And, I get it if you’ve grown up in “the church” and you’ve had experiences where you’ve felt overwhelmed and have hesitation for attempting to walk out the will and leading of God. Many of us have felt overwhelmed in this. But I would offer with suggestion. The problem is not the Holy Spirit. The problem is often in us, overthinking, overworking, overdoing things religiously. Trying too much, with the oughts and the shoulda and the checkboxes. We cry uncle eventually and prefer to go about a more normal earthly existence. But, if Holy Spirit lives in us, following Him should be as natural as breathing. I know it often doesn’t feel like that. But I’d opine that the problem has never been with God or Jesus or our helper, the Holy Spirit. It’s our interpretation, and “trying”. Maybe we should try a lot less and trust a bit more .)

Maybe we should revisit how we go about this whole ‘drifting in the ocean thing’.

(Which seems super appropriate, because it feels like we’re all all swimming in an ocean of options, opportunity to drown, and opinions.)

What way should we approach a life boat offer- should we take it or reject it? That’s entirely up to you and God. And if you care to wonder what He might eventually say, why not ask Him His opinion now?

Faith is not defined by either accepting or rejecting help or a lifeline. Radical faith is inviting God into all of the details. And not only inviting Him, expecting He’ll show up.

It’s trusting Him enough to know that He will help you when you ask Him, no matter how big or small the request. It’s trusting Him enough to know that He will help you when you need it, and answer you when you call. Not always exactly how you ask, but in whatever way He knows that you truly need. Faith is trusting His character enough to remember that He cares for you.

We don’t trust blindly, but from knowing Him. Knowing that He has our true best interest at heart. That He’ll show us whether or not to take the lifeboat, and that no matter any outcome, He’s got us. We’re anchored, attached, to His lifeboat.
And no matter what, His love is bigger than that ocean. He will always take care of us. One way or another, if we ever get a little adrift, He will gently guide us back to Himself. We can trust our whole selves into His eternal, competent, loving hands.