Yesterday we found ourselves needing to make another trip to doctor appointments that were two hours away and very early. It was still dark when we started with only the beginning of small touches of orange starting a show of the future sunrise. We admired those colors of morning and the effects on the bottoms of the clouds. It was a growing picture of beauty that was the beginning of our day. Heading north, we noticed a lot of bright headlights coming our direction going south to a destination for their day—maybe to work, to school, perhaps a day of shopping, maybe appointments to keep. So many were starting their day early. Then we began to notice—there wasn’t an equal string of red taillights headed north. For many miles, we only could see three vehicles going our direction compared to the “hundred” going south. We couldn’t help but draw some comparisons to a spiritual lesson in what we were seeing. Matthew 7:13–14 NLT “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” Granted, our way was not a way of narrow and broad ways, it was just one road with two directions of travel. But many more were headed only one way and had found that way together. Just a few chose the other direction. These two verses seem to reflect on the choice between a popular, crowded path and a righteous, narrow one, contrasting the broad road leading to destruction with the narrow road that leads to life. We were definitely going “The Narrow Way Against the Flow”. Is the busiest way the best way? For us it would not have been. The busiest road isn’t always the right one. The busiest way would not have taken us to our needed destination. Observing heavy traffic moving in one direction while few travel against it is like the spiritual journey described by Jesus in Matthew. The narrow path is rarely crowded, but it is always perfectly secure. Walking on a trail/path where few are heading can feel very lonely and isolating. When everyone else seems to be moving in the same direction—celebrating the same milestones, chasing the same versions of success, or choosing the easier, comfortable path/road—standing on a quiet trail by yourself can make you wonder if you’ve taken a wrong turn. If I fall behind from a group out for a day of hiking together, I have wondered if I was still on the path where everyone was to end up. It is a very lonely feeling. There is purpose to be found in lonely solitude. The Bible reassures us that a lonely path is often the best indicator of our daily choices matching God’s will. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explicitly noted that the gateway to life is small and the road is narrow, adding that “only a few find it“
Matthew 7:14. When God calls you to a distinct direction, the lack of company isn’t a sign of failure, it is a sign of consecration. Consider the truth that anchors us when our direction feels lonely.
You are following a Person, not a crowd. Abraham was called to leave everything familiar to travel toward an unknown destination. He didn’t have a crowd or a map; he simply had a promise. My life is always headed in the right direction if I’m tracing the footsteps of Jesus rather than the trends of culture, which most of social culture is obviously not following Jesus. God’s ways and thoughts are fundamentally higher than our own Isaiah 55:8–9. What feels like an inconvenient detour or an isolated trail is often God’s strategy to protect me from unseen pitfalls waiting on the crowded highway. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares our Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways.” It is on the quiet, uncrowded paths where we learn to hear our Shepherd’s voice clearly. When I’m not surrounded by the noise of the crowd, I can be almost intimately aware of His presence, His guidance, and His personal provision just for ME! A Prayer for a Lonely Traveler—Father, help me to remember that popularity is not the measure of Your presence. When I look around and see so few people heading my way, I feel the fear that tells me I am lost. Give me the courage to stay on the narrow road. I surrender my need for a crowd, and I choose to find my security entirely in You. Keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith. After we completed our appointments, then we headed back south toward home! And we were part of all the busy traffic going south but for us it was towards home!! And for us, we could hardly wait to get there. We were tired and wanted to be done with our trip. And then we noticed, every few blocks or miles, several times major parts of the traffic left our travel direction and took their own routes. Finally, there were just a few left going the way we were. The people who veered off were not going to be with us when we reached HOME! What an object lesson for me—there will be many who decide to not go home to heaven! I am looking forward to the final end—when I can say I have arrived at my Heavenly Home!
Scheduling and need had us taking that less traveled way three times in one week! The way to our destination and the way back had several different ways to get there, none of them would be wrong, just different paths leading to the same destinations. One of the ways to go was one that had a ferry to take us across the river. Knowing that this ferry service was going to be ending in a few days, we decided to enjoy it while we can. On the first trip, we found ourselves first in line and enjoyed the river views we had being first. The next trip placed us in the center of the boat, and we had a great view of how the pilot handled leaving the dock and heading across the river. On the third trip, we were directed to the right front corner of the ferry, and we had a great view of the docking at the end of the trip across the river. Again, we had illustrated before us a spiritual lesson. We admired the skill of the pilot as he and we approached the dock where we would leave the ferry and continue on our way “home.” The precision required to dock a ferry boat of any size offers an important picture of how God guides our lives to our ultimate destination. When a ferry approaches its terminal, there is no room for guesswork. A minor miscalculation of speed or angle can result in a destructive collision. The pilot cannot rely on engine power alone; he must masterfully balance momentum, wind, currents, and subtle steering adjustments to slide perfectly into place. We never saw the pilot make an aiming mistake. He never had to back up and try again to get the
aim right. There are at least three spiritual truths we can get from the precision guidance of our ferry pilot. First, is the Alignment Over Speed—As a ferry nears the landing place, it does not speed up; it slows down. The pilot focuses entirely on alignment. In our lives, we often rush to reach our goals, equating speed with progress. However, God is far more concerned with our alignment with His will than the speed of our journey. True progress is not about how fast we are moving, but how accurately we are following His heading. When we feel things slowing down, it is often the Master Pilot adjusting our course for a safe arrival. True progress is not about how fast we are moving, but how accurately we follow His heading. Second, the pilot is Correcting for Invisible Currents. A skilled pilot knows that what happens beneath the surface matters just as much as what is visible. Wind and underwater currents constantly try to drift the boat off course. The pilot must make continuous micro-adjustments to counteract these forces. Similarly, the “currents” of culture, stress, and daily distractions quietly pull us away from our inner peace. Daily prayer, scripture, and reflection are the micro-adjustments we need to stay true to our heading. The third lesson or truth is Trusting the Fixed Point of the destination. The ferry dock is fixed, unmoving, and designed specifically to receive the vessel. The pilot does not try to change the destination; he adjusts the ferry to match the landing. In a shifting world, God is our unchanging, fixed point. We do not ask God to align with our plans; we must allow God’s precision guidance to align us with His eternal purposes. There is a Bible verse that illustrates this for me: “He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.” Psalm 107:29-30
A ferry pilot operates each trip where the room for error is practically zero. When bringing a ferry boat into the disembarkation place, there is no room for guesswork. The pilot doesn’t simply point the bow at the land and hope for the best; they rely on precision guidance. When the ferry pilot approaches the dock, they often must slow down, trust the instruments over their own sight, and let the precision guidance systems bring them home. They look at alignment markers on the shore, monitor depth sounders, account for the invisible push of crosscurrents, and maybe listen intently to the harbor master in some places. The final few yards require total submission to the instruments and the coordinates. A mistake, even a minor miscalculation of speed or angle of just a few inches could result and mean a nasty collision with the dock, endangering the passengers and the cargo. Our journey through life is much like a ferry trip. We cross rough waters, navigate shifting cultural currents, and face unpredictable weather. But the most critical moment of the voyage is the arrival—our final destination. God does not leave us to drift blindly into our final destination. He provides us with His own precision guidance. He is The Master Pilot, and the Holy Spirit continues to whisper course corrections to us that we cannot see. The Master Pilot follows The Charts, the scriptures, which clearly mark the hidden hazards and shallow waters. And this Master Pilot is watching The Shoreline Markers and Buoys. Christ the way and the truth and the Life and gives us a fixed point to align our lives against.
The pilot cannot rely on engine power alone; he must masterfully balance momentum, wind, currents, and make subtle steering adjustments to slide perfectly into place. It is the same for us. As we navigate toward eternity and the daily destinations God has for us, we must stop relying on our own understanding. When we submit to His precise directions, He promises not just an arrival, but a safe, perfectly aligned landing. Check your own instruments: Are you trying to guide your life by your own sight, or are you actively checking the “charts” of Scripture? I need to Trust the Alignment: When God’s precision guidance asks me to make a minor course correction (in my attitudes, relationships, or my choices), do I trust Him enough to steer differently? The precision required to dock a ferry boat offers an overwhelming picture of how God guides our lives to our ultimate destination. “He guides them to their desired haven.” Psalm 107:30
A ferry boat pilot faces a unique challenge every time they approach the dock. Unlike an open-sea captain who has miles of margin, a ferry pilot must operate with absolute precision in the tightest of spaces. They contend with all the shifting currents, blind spots, heavy winds, and the momentum of the vessel and yet, through seasoned experience and reliance on precise markers, they bring the boat safely into the dock—exactly where it belongs.
This journey reflects how God provides precision guidance in our own lives, especially when we are trying to navigate our way to a safe landing place. We should be trusting the micro-adjustments. When a ferry approaches the landing, the pilot doesn’t just hold the wheel straight. They are constantly making tiny, almost invisible micro-adjustments to counteract the drift of the current. The Spiritual Truth: God’s guidance is rarely a one-time, dramatic blueprint. More often, Holy Spirit guidance consists of daily, quiet prompts—a micro-adjustment to our attitude, a small nudge to speak kindly, or a sudden check in our spirit to slow down. Proverbs 3:6 reminds, “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Trust His daily course corrections. Always continue to rely on Fixed Markers. A pilot cannot rely on how the water looks or feels because the current is deceptive. Instead, they line up the ship with fixed, immovable markers on the shore and the structure of the dock itself. The Spiritual Truth: When our emotions are turbulent and the circumstances of life feel like shifting waters, we cannot rely on our feelings. We must lock our eyes onto the fixed marker of God’s Word. Hebrews 6:19 calls this truth “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” The culture can shift, but the markers of God’s promises never move. Yield to the Perfect Timing. If a ferry pilot rushes the landing, the boat will crash into the dock. If they are too timid, the current will sweep them away. The pilot must perfectly time the reverse thrust of the engines to overcome the boat’s own heavy momentum. The Spiritual Truth: We often want to rush into our next season, demanding a fast landing. But God knows the exact speed of our lives. He knows when to apply the “reverse thrust” of a waiting period to protect us from a collision. His precision timing ensures we land safely, not broken.
You might feel like you are maneuvering a heavy, slow-turning vessel through foggy or turbulent waters right now. Take comfort that you are not the one steering alone. The Ultimate Pilot has His hand on the wheel. He sees the currents you cannot see, and He is executing a flawless, precise plan to bring you safely to your landing place.
Last Sabbath, if you were with us as we worshipped in the Hawkeye Seventh-day Adventist Church, you would have had the chance to hear a good sermon! The title was Hold Fast! So much to remember and take in to improve our daily trip with Jesus at the pilot’s wheel. But one phrase got my attention. “Wait, but don’t stop living!” Once again, I had to take in that thought and decide what it meant for me and spiritually. Lately, I have spent a lot of time Waiting! I have been waiting for so much but most of it was waiting for my pain to get better. The doctors had assured me that there wasn’t any surgery that would fix the pain, so I wasn’t waiting for that to happen. For the pain to get better, I was told to try various pain-relieving medications. Waiting for them to work did not end with no pain. I tried physical therapy and that did not end the painful days and hours of pain that went on and on. Then I was told that a pain clinic could offer me some help and relief. I had to wait for that to get scheduled, first wait to be evaluated and then wait to get in the schedule for an injection. There were so many daily things that I was waiting to do better or even do at all. Waiting for pain relief and for the injection, I put off many tasks, some needing to be done daily and some less often but still put off doing—things like doing the sink full of dishes, laundry, cooking, sweeping, canning, changing bedsheets, shopping because it was too hard and painful, cleaning—everything has been put off because of the pain! Then finally came the injection—but it didn’t work! And though I was greatly disappointed, I was told, don’t give up! Try the next thing they could offer! Waiting and waiting some more! Finally, that day came this week! The nerves of pain were destroyed by radio frequency waves. Now I must wait some more to learn how effective this will have been—wait up to two weeks! I am definitely looking forward to the end of waiting! At least the end of this waiting! There are certainly other things I am still waiting for! Like special phone calls with our kids. Waiting each week for Sabbath to come. Waiting for the next bill—Ugh!. Waiting for more money to be added to our bank accounts. Waiting for Thanksgiving Day. And most of all—waiting for Jesus to come back again! Waiting on God does not mean putting your life on hold, freezing your growth, or pressing pause on the present while you look toward the future.
My appointment had me waiting over an hour to see the doctor. And we waited at the ferry each time before boarding. When we find ourselves in a season of waiting—whether for an answer to prayer, a breakthrough, a relationship, or a change in circumstances—it is easy to slip into a waiting room mentality. We start living in a “pause-mode” trap, a state of suspension, thinking: “I’ll really start serving when this season passes.” “I’ll be happy once this prayer gets answered.” “I’ll figure out my purpose after my situation changes.” When we treat the present like a waiting room, we lose the joy and purpose of today. God is not asking us to stop living; He is calling us to grow, serve, and walk faithfully right where our feet are planted, today. Bible verses and Christian wisdom remind us that waiting is not passive inactivity—it is active trust. I need to keep growing and use the quiet or slow seasons to deepen my roots in God’s presence rather than resenting the delay. I need to keep serving. Look around at the people right in front of you who need encouragement, kindness, or help. This week, we left the place where we ate lunch and noticed a group of people gathered around a lady
in a wheel chair. She was pale, head thrown back, eyes closed, mouth hanging open, clearly in distress. As we learned that the family group had called 911, Garry took a moment to ask more questions and then asked the family if he could pray with them and for the lady. It was a God moment for us to serve! We do not know the end of this story but have placed it in God’s hands. During periods of waiting, keep praising, don’t let an unanswered prayer silence your gratitude or rob you of today’s blessings. Psalm 27:14 reminds us: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” That strength comes not from freezing your life, but from walking forward with courage, knowing that the God who holds tomorrow is actively shaping you today.
The Bible has many stories of waiting! One waiting person was Sarah. It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old.” Hebrews 11:11a (NLT) Patience. Endurance. Pause. Tarry. Those are all synonyms for one of my least favorite words in the Bible: wait. Though we waited patiently for the ferry to come to our side of the river, waiting is not one of my top strengths. I’m more of a hurry-up and let’s-get-this-thing-going type of girl. Sarah had a lot in common with me…because neither of us likes to wait. Her story is like yours and mine. She had a dream, a desire waiting to be fulfilled. Sarah dreamed and longed to be a mother. The details of her infertility are mostly private, yet God published one verse concerning the matter. “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children” Genesis 16:1a, NIV. Sarah was caught in a dilemma. She wanted a child but was unable to get pregnant. Feeling desperate and believing she’s reached an impasse, Sarah takes matters into her own hands. And convinced Abram to sleep with her maidservant, Hagar. Genesis 16:2 Her plan was “successful,” as Abram became a father. Sarah’s interference enlightens us to the dangers of waiting on God, rather than waiting with God. As one writer put it, in Sarah’s story, there’s a serious plot twist taking place right after Hagar gives birth to a son, Ishmael. Sure, Abraham became a father, but God wanted to bless an entire nation through Sarah. So, he made her wait before their son Isaac (father of Israel) eventually came along…five more chapters in the Bible, and 14 more years in real life!
Waiting on God gives way to actions based on human reasoning while waiting with God sees the pause as time to experience God. Sarah was living in the pain and disappointment of an unfulfilled dream. She examined her situation, and rather than trusting God’s timing and experiencing His presence during the pause, she trusted her own logic and understanding. I guess I’m more like Sarah than I care to admit. In my mind I know truths like: God’s timing is best. God is trustworthy, and His plan is worth waiting for. But my frustrations and impatience get the best of me. I reason, “I’ve been waiting long enough. My ideas are good and the best and even God-honoring”. Foolishly leaning on my own understanding nearly caused me to miss an incredible opportunity of seeing God work things out for my good and His glory. When we wait with God, we enjoy the immeasurable peace that comes when we rest in the hope of His perfect plan.
Can there be any hope for those who take matters into their own hands? Or does God write us off as a lost cause? Nope! Thankfully, there’s always hope with God. Sarah’s decision wasn’t without consequences (see Genesis 16:1-16 and Genesis 21:8-21), but God remained faithful in fulfilling her dream with the child of promise, Isaac (Genesis 18:1-15 and
Genesis 21:1-7). This brings us to the amazing hope of this verse: “It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old” Hebrews 11:11.
Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the “Hall of Faith,” and Sarah’s name is listed among the faithful! Isn’t that incredible? Impatient people aren’t cast aside in the family of God. (Whew. I’m thankful for this truth!) Sarah proved that meddling can mess up God’s best plan, but the verse shows how God redeems our interruptions and can turn our mess-ups into a message.
Maybe your dream is like Sarah’s, or one of the other Bible “waiters” or like me—waiting for the end of pain. Perhaps you want to own a home, be married, or see your loved ones saved. Our dreams aren’t too big for God. For me and for everyone, let’s trust Him with your deepest desire. Wait with Him and experience God’s presence. Participate with Him through obedience. Waiting with Him is worth it. His plans are the best—more than anything we can ask or imagine. Lord, I’m sorry for interfering with the work You’re trying to accomplish in my life. Pauses are challenging, even frustrating. I want to experience You as I wait for Your best plans. Thank You for being a redeeming God who takes my mess-ups and makes a message. Help me lean on You rather than my own understanding. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Hebrews 11:1, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” NLT When waiting on God takes longer than expected, we become impatient and act on what we understand. Your dream isn’t too big for God. Trust Him with your deepest desires. Wendy Pope.
I’m going to be happy waiting, but overjoyed when my waiting ends—and Jesus Comes Again!