PADDLES OF A BOAT

 

I once attended a program and on my way back, the driver of the commercial bus I boarded took a route that took I and other passengers across the expanse of a long bridge that was constructed over a large body of water. 

This bridge is popularly called Third Mainland Bridge.

On that day, there was disturbance on the road which led to traffic congestion. This gave me ample time to stare at the canoes and boats silently gliding over the face of the water that was softly churning beneath us.

It was a sight to behold and I was mildly interested in the way the paddlers were rowing the boat with their paddles in order to control the craft as they explored the expanse of water. 

And as they were paddling, they were facing forward and moving forward, never missing a beat. They are flexible in the way they guide the craft over the water bodies, but the most interesting thing was their individual stroke. Yes! No two stroke was the same. 

Some used the forward stroke while others implemented the reverse stroke, I didn’t see any of them use the Indian stroke or the draw stroke and the many more strokes that I have read about and seen in movies, but it was still amazing watching them.

And while meditating on the scene of wonder and excitement happening on the sphere of water below us, I was inspired and this is what I gleaned from it:

God of the universe is almighty, and we are within his sphere of jurisdiction. Humanity is vast like the breath of the ocean, we roll and roll, and it seems like there is no end to us.

And every creation of God, human being to be precise are like a ferry man with his boat and paddle that heads into the ocean to conduct the business of the day, and he doesn’t go empty, he goes with his tool, parting the depth of the water with his paddles, and as he transverse the breath of the ocean, he transverses with wisdom and direction.

And the same thing can be said of us, we have been purposely birthed into this oceanic world, big and vast but difficult to transverse without the direction only God can give. 

And on our path to live a life of success, we have been given the necessary tools that comes in forms of relationships, skills and talents etc. to fulfill our God’s given purpose.

The world is like the ocean, so we must always be vigilant as we transverse it that we may not be like a man who sees his destination in the distance but never gets there. Yes! We must discern the times and seasons like a ferry man who knows when to travel the expanse of water and when not to. We must learn to find our own style in the world, everyone will not transverse the world the same way.

The world will test us, the tides will rise and fall with great force, but we must sustain the graceful wisdom to weather it. The gale of the world will batter us but we must sustain the strength to stand like a house built on a rock.

But most importantly, we must not lose sight of where we are going. We must focus, because that is what will keep us going in the face of all odds.

In Love,

Okunola Peace.