Microtrawler

Teal

Chaplain’s Corner

Mariner’s Passage - The purpose of this column is to share my reflections on the life of we mariners and the Creator of the seas.  We mariners have the opportunity to experience the Almighty up close and personal in ways no other’s can.

By George Shannon
gjs309@magiclink.com
Bolger, Microtrawler & Teal builder.

#7

Surrender and Acceptance

A week after writing and submitting Chaplain’s Corner article #6, I received an answer to prayer. In that article I shared the fact that I had a critical & judgmental nature and was prone to cynicism and I wanted all that to go away. These are not the kinds of things I want in my life and have struggled to remove them in as many ways as I could find. However, after reading the Serenity Prayer over and over lately, praying and discussing all this with a bunch of guys I meet with weekly, something new finally came to light and made sense. These parts of my nature like it or not, are who I am and they are not meant to be taken away. As soon as someone said that to me, it rang absolutely true. 

The more I thought about it and talked it through, it seems that these are the very things that God can use to keep me on the straight and narrow and keep my attention on Him. Without His grace in every situation in my life I will default back to my own weaknesses. So now what I have to do is begin accepting these traits and surrendering control over them to God, because I obviously can’t do much with them and am not at all peaceful when I play with them. It almost seems like having to do the same kinds of things I have to do to stay away from my addiction. I can see also that it would be a big mistake if these were taken away from me, as my pride and ego would play well over how good I might get to think I am. 

This is kind of a new thing, learning how God can use my weaknesses to keep me in touch with Him. It is hard for us humans to actually believe that God accepts our weaknesses and wants to work with us as we struggle through life. My guess is that this process of surrender and acceptance is going to take many years. Oh well, a good boat is never built quickly, especially one that will go the distance in service.