Bjcorbin's Blog

There was once a young sailor who had the opportunity to sail through uncharted waters, on a ship headed to a dark and unexplored land.  The men in his family had been sailors for generations and he’d grown up to stories of the great adventures that his father, and grandfather and great-grandfather had on such journeys.  Though he’d been sailing for some years himself, he’d never gone more than a few hundred miles up or down the coastline.  He yearned to experience the adventure of the unknown and despite the potential danger; he jumped at the chance to sign aboard.

Only his father seemed to fully understand his desire to do such a thing.  And as the day drew near for his departure, he noticed that his father was busily working on something.  It occurred to him to ask of it, but he was too distracted to remember the question.  As he was saying his goodbyes on the pier, he saw his father having a chest loaded onto the ship.  When he asked about it, his father simply said, it is a few things that you’ll need along the way.  The young man couldn’t imagine what he’d need that wasn’t already loaded in the sack slung over his shoulder, but he was too excited to ask any more about it.

The chest was loaded deep into the ship’s cargo hold, where it seemed destined to be forgotten.  In the first days of the journey, the excitement of the departure gave way to the monotony of the sea and as the days turned to weeks, the journey began to take its toll.  As the sun and the wind of the sea began to make his skin turn to leather, the young man remembered the chest and his father’s words of what was inside.  He made his way deep into the ships hold and found the chest; sure enough there was a jar of ointment for his skin.  Later while re-loading supplies in a tropical port, the ship became infested with biting flies and the young man found a roll of netting within the chest that protected him from them.  In the days when sickness and fever swept through the crew, he found various jars of herbs and teas to preserve him.  As a matter of fact every time a malady came his way, he seemed to find something within the chest to help him.  Each time this would happen, he would marvel at his fathers’ insight as to what he would encounter on his journey.

As the months turned to years, the young man always knew to go to the chest when he was in need, until one day he noticed that he was taking the last article from it.  A wave of sadness came over him, as he guessed that his father couldn’t have anticipated that this journey was going to last so long.  His heart was heavy as he climbed out of the ships hold, his sense of adventure was spent and he just wanted to be home.  As he reached the deck, he first heard the excited voices of the crew and then the ringing of the ships bell.  As he got to the ships railing he could see that they were finally home.

As the ship drew near to the pier he could see his father calmly waiting, as if he knew exactly when they’d be arriving, even though they hadn’t known themselves.  The son stared at his father in awe and his heart was filled with love and gratitude.  As he walked down the gangway, he felt like a little boy and as he embraced his father, his tears began to flow as he heard him say, “Welcome home Son, I’m so proud of you”.

As the Lord gave me this little parable, He said that you are that young sailor, and that the chest He’s packed for you is your heart.   He said that because He’s gone before you, He has anticipated everything that you will need on your journey and that you simply need to go and look for His provision within your heart.  He said that you need not ever question whether you’ll find what you need, because He was very careful when He packed.  He also mentioned that He knows the journey is longer than, and at times not nearly as adventurous as you’d hoped; but He wants you to know that there is purpose in every mile.  He says that it’s exciting to see you find new things within your heart that you didn’t know were there, but that His truest joy will be the day that you return forever.  He’s looking forward to that moment on the pier even more than you are.