LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Battered By the Waves
The sea, in the Scriptures, symbolizes the world; and the stormy waves represent the turmoil in the midst of the world. In the New Testament there are several scenes with the sea agitated by a furious storm. In the Gospels we are told how on two occasions the disciples faced storms on the Sea of Galilee, and how, in spite of their seafaring experience, they were greatly frightened because they feared for their lives. Only the presence of the Lord in the boat, and the exercise of his authority, restored peace to the disciples and calm to the raging sea.
So it is also with our life. It is like a boat in the midst of a troubled world. Many times the waves that the enemy raises over us threaten our life; however, time and again the Lord Jesus Christ rises up to defend us and return things to the point of peace.
But this is not the only reference to sea storms in the Scriptures. There are two other scenes, one in Ephesians and the other in Timothy, that warn us in different senses. Ephesians 4:14 says: "...that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine". Lacueva translates this passage more literally: "...so that we will no longer be little children tossed about by the waves and tossed by every wind of teaching". Here there is a clear seafaring simile, since it is about a ship tossed by the wind on the high seas.
In the sea that is this world there are also winds of doctrine, or of teaching, which are strange, and which are encouraged by the devil. A weak Christian, who has not experienced growth or reached maturity, is liable to be tossed about by them. In the last days, the Lord warns, "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will heap up to themselves teachers according to their own lusts, and will turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside to fables" (2 Tim. 4:3-4).
The other passage is in 1 Timothy 1:19-20: "...keeping faith and a good conscience, in which some were shipwrecked in the faith, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered over to Satan, that they might learn not to blaspheme". Here we are shown the sad end that can have the life of a Christian who succumbs to the storm.
The "boat" of these men has already been shipwrecked. The undesirable end fell upon them. The cause? They did not know how to keep their faith and good conscience. They accepted that sins were accumulating on their conscience, until it became insensitive. Gradually they slipped, until they reached blasphemy.
The time when the apostle wrote to Timothy showed signs of apostasy. The sea had become stormier than ever, and there were Christians who could not stay afloat. The sea is still lashing today. The winds of doctrines have multiplied. The enemy rages. Only if we have Christ in our boat will we be able to stay afloat.