Viewpoint from Roger Hill for 4th January 2013
 

Member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
Burnt Lane, Gorleston

GOD KNOWS BEST
 

God knows what is best for us.  He also wants what is best for us.  He is able to give what is best for us.  Many of you will remember the words of the old ballad “I did it my way.”  I think it sums up rather well our self-reliance.  In Proverbs 26 v12 it says “There is one thing worse than a fool and that is a man who is conceited.”  Perhaps the following story helps to illustrate this fact. 
 
An officer in the navy had dreamed from childhood of commanding a great battleship one day.  He finally achieved his dream and was given a commission of the newest and proudest ship in the fleet.  One stormy night, the captain was on duty on the bridge when he spotted a strange light rapidly closing in on his vessel. 
 
As his ship ploughed through the giant waves, the light rose and fell just above the horizon of the sea.  He ordered his signalman to flash a message to the unidentified craft on his port side, “Alter your course ten degrees to the south.”  Within seconds a reply came, “Alter your course ten degrees to the North.”  Determined that his ship would never take a backseat to any other, the captain snapped a second order, “Alter course ten degrees I am the CAPTAIN.”  The response was beamed back “Alter your course ten degrees I am Seaman Third Class Smith.”  By this time, the light was growing ever brighter and larger.  Infuriated the captain grabbed the signal light and personally signalled, “Alter course I am a battleship.”  The reply came just as quickly, “Alter your course I am a lighthouse.”   
 
We tend to dislike criticism of any kind.  As children we didn’t like being corrected by our teachers or our parents.  As mature adults we don’t like being corrected by Policemen, Traffic Wardens, managers at work, and perhaps even less by our partner. 
 
What about God when he tries to correct us?  Revelation 3 v 17 says “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore and repent.”  As human beings we like to think we are self-sufficient, totally in control, able to cope with any given situation, Captain of our own battleship.  The reality is we are captain of a rubber dinghy.  Everything we are, or own is down to God.  He is the captain of the universe, His hand is on the helm, and he it is who steers us through the storms of life.  God is sovereign of the universe. 
 
Sadly all too often, it is King I who reigns supreme in our lives.  To be true workers for God we must submit our will to His.  We must give up the principle of self ownership, our abiding sentiment should be, that although salvation is free, it was bought at great price by our Saviour and we owe him our loyalty and service.