Trustworthy Guide

‘Captain of Israel’s Host and Guide’. This hymn by Charles Wesley, names Israel’s Captain as her Guide also. In other words, our Captain is not just our Captain, but our Guide also.

By Thy unerring Spirit led,

We shall not in the desert stray,

We shall not full direction need,

Nor miss our providential way;

As far from danger as from fear,

When love, almighty love, is near.

 

Having discoursed on the fact that Holy Spirit is unerring, we now move on to the second identified, infallible fact upon which our faith can securely abide. 

We shall not in the desert stray.

With our Captain, we can be sure that we will never stray in any place that is strange, new and unknown to us. Keep your eyes on the cruise liners of which I spoke. I see them coming into Barbados. I don’t know from where they have come and what nautical bearings their captains used, but I know beyond any doubt, the victory of seeing the ship cruising into harbour. This, I can boldly announce to you, without wavering. The majority of the tourists, if not all of them, could not captain themselves to this new port. They know not the way.

Let’s chat here for a bit. I’m looking at one liner coming in and I definitely believe that the tourists arrived here, without being lost at sea, at any point. Not one of them, regardless of his or her knowledge or ignorance of the way, was led astray in any form or fashion. None, I tell you, not one strayed off at any point because of familiar or unfamiliar surroundings. Such an occurrence was impossible, because no one but the captain was guiding the liner.

Now think about this as well. If on the journey to Barbados, they encountered some desert-like or wilderness-type conditions, could any desert experience cause them to stray and wander about? On their own, yes! But not with their experienced captain. He made an agreement with them, a covenant, if you like, to take them to the island of Barbados, as long as they stayed on his vessel.  What my eyes are seeing, is a captain who has been faithful to his word, and passengers who have been faithful to their word to remain in his vessel. They got here without being confused, or deceived in any desert-like experiences, because of their captain. I ask you, how much more our Captain!

Holy Spirit, forgive us for our worthless talk. We claim You as Captain of our lives, yet we become all disoriented, anxious and full of stress, when the path before us becomes truly desert-like. All our carnal eyes are able to see before us is doom, gloom and pure disaster. Our minds begin to stray and take us in all kinds of crooked and wrong directions. Why? This is the case because we have lost the truth of who our Captain is and the fact that we are not responsible for our lives on this journey, but He is. We forget that we need to trust Him, and not the people or circumstances around us. We so easily forget that we are to live by faith in Him and not live by fear of the things around us.   

Fellow travelling companions, believe and live this truth. In Captain Holy Spirit’s Vessel, we shall not in any desert have to stray.

Why, in desert places, you fear you’ll stray,

Aren’t you with your Captain? He knows the way.