S is for Stuck

Just because of these important, life-giving effects the Spirit gives, the possibility of "losing the wind" is so disastrous. Sailors describe a sailboat that comes to a complete stop while sailing as being "dead in the water." This happens under two different circumstances. In the first, the wind is blowing but the boat turns into the wrong direction: straight up into (against) the wind. When that happens, sailors say they are "in irons" because they are helpless since they have no motion and therefore cannot even steer the boat. (This is embarrassing to captain and crew; see under "contrition" below.) But there is a way out: the wind! Sailors manually push a sail outward to catch some wind, which will begin to drive the boat backwards. When it is moving, then the rudder can be turned to move the boat across the wind, whereupon the sail is set and they are off and away, now sailing forward in a wholesome direction.

So must we do. What is repentance but using the Spirit's power to back out of a bad direction, a direction we followed thinking it worthwhile, but which turned out to be "dead." Our readjustment usually takes the form of contrition, repentance and absolution and the end result is being freed from sin, death, hell, and the power of the devil, free enough to sail off again toward the kingdom.

The second circumstance in which a sailboat goes dead in the water is woefully obvious: The wind quits blowing. I say "woe-full" because this is a desperate circumstance since the boat has no power and no hope of getting any. It is disconcerting to think that our Holy Wind could cease blowing for us, but apparently, that is a real possibility. Remember David's plea in Psalm 51:11, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me"? That followed an incident where his heart had been so hardened by his sin that God withdrew his Spirit. The only hope I can think of for such circumstances is that sometime soon the Wind will decide to pick up and start blowing again. We can not make it blow. So the hope is a prayer, David's prayer. Since Holy Wind is always a gift, every day a gift we cannot obtain but only receive, it is a fervent prayer, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me!"