… so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves
and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning,
by craftiness in deceitful schemes. – Ephesians 4:14 (ESV)
This scripture verse reminds me of a sailing memory in 2011; I was part of a 4-man crew delivering a 45’ sailboat to Tortola British Virgin Islands from Hampton VA. It was an eleven-day journey where we experienced many different sea states.
For thirty-six hours the Atlantic Ocean refused to let us sail in a straight line.
It was 2011, and I was one of four crew members delivering a 45-foot sailboat from Hampton, Virginia, to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. The voyage would take eleven days, and along the way we encountered nearly every sea condition imaginable. But one stretch of the trip remains etched in my memory more vividly than all the others.
Sailors call it following seas.
The wind wasn’t our problem. The waves were.
Six- to eight-foot swells rolled relentlessly up behind us, lifting the stern and shoving it wherever they pleased. Sometimes they came one at a time. Other times they arrived from slightly different angles, one after another, never giving the boat a chance to settle.
The autopilot fought constantly to keep us on course, but every so often a wave would push the stern so far to one side that the bow seemed to point back toward the port we had left days earlier.
When that happened, whoever was on watch kept one hand close to the helm. If the autopilot couldn’t recover quickly enough, it had to be disengaged immediately before the next swell caught the boat broadside.
For thirty-six hours we were never in danger of sinking, but we were in a continual battle to stay pointed in the right direction.
Years later, whenever I read Paul’s words in Ephesians about being “tossed to and fro,” my mind immediately returns to those following seas.
Life has a way of producing them.
- One unexpected phone call.
- One financial setback.
- One broken relationship.
- One temptation.
- One disappointment.
- One success that quietly begins to consume us.
None of these things has to destroy us. But if we stop paying attention, they can slowly turn us away from the course God intends us to follow.
Paul wasn’t writing those words to unbelievers. He was writing to Christians.
He wasn’t questioning their salvation. He was encouraging them to grow up spiritually so they would no longer be pushed around by every false teaching, every worldly influence, and every clever deception that seeks to pull believers away from Christ.
That reminds me of another picture.
Have you ever watched a bushel of crabs?
As one crab begins climbing toward the top, the others instinctively grab hold of it and pull it back down. Eventually, none of them escape.
The world often works the same way.
Sometimes those “crabs” are people who mock our faith or discourage our walk with Christ.
Other times, they’re much harder to recognize.
Sometimes it is our own ambitions, or :
- our pride.
- our fears.
- our desire for approval.
- Our need to accumulate more.
The enemy is far too clever to tempt every believer in the same way. He studies our weaknesses and patiently uses whatever is most likely to pull us back into the world’s bushel.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to provide well for your family. Scripture commends diligence and hard work. But somewhere along the way, providing can quietly become pursuing. Promotions become priorities. Success replaces significance. Children grow up with wonderful vacations, beautiful homes, and closets full of possessions—but very few memories of time spent with Dad.
I once heard Pastor Joby Martin describe it this way: “Many fathers faithfully provided everything money could buy while unintentionally withholding the one thing their children wanted most—themselves.”
The career wasn’t the problem.
The misplaced priority was.
The same thing can happen with our hobbies and passions.
Charles Krauthammer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, loved the game of chess. He became so skilled that he was approaching master-level competition. Yet he recognized that his passion for chess was slowly demanding more of his life than he was willing to give. Left unchecked, it threatened both his career and his family.
Chess wasn’t sinful.
But for him, it had become one of those crabs reaching up from the bottom of the basket.
Every one of us has them.
Every one of us experiences following seas.
Perhaps yours is worry.
Perhaps it’s money.
Perhaps it’s politics.
Perhaps it’s success.
Perhaps it’s a relationship.
Perhaps it’s an addiction no one else knows about.
Whatever it is, Satan would love nothing more than to turn your attention just a few degrees away from Christ. He knows that small changes in direction, left uncorrected, eventually lead far off course.
The good news is that God has not left us to navigate alone.
As we fix our eyes on Jesus and immerse ourselves in His Word, the Holy Spirit gives us discernment. He helps us recognize the deceptive currents before they carry us away. He gently corrects our course, again and again, pointing us back toward the One who never changes.
The Christian life isn’t lived in calm seas. It’s lived by continually correcting our
course whenever the waves try to turn us away from Christ.
So let me ask you:
What are the following seas in your life today?
What keeps trying to push your bow away from Jesus?
More importantly…
Are you letting the world’s waves determine your direction, or are you allowing the Holy Spirit to keep you on course?
Because storms will come.
The waves will continue.
But if your eyes remain fixed on Christ, you’ll discover that even the roughest following seas cannot keep you from reaching the harbor He has prepared for you.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Have you experienced “following seas” in your own life? What has God used to keep you on course?
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