Tacking towards Heaven

This is a wise poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
‘‘Tis the set of the sails and not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.
Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate,
As we voyage along through life:
‘It’s the set of the soul
That decides the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

I found this in a book I’m reading by Charles Swindoll and I’ve read it over and over. A ship with a wise captain doesn’t have to go where the wind takes it. By setting the sails at angles to the wind (tacking) the captain can actually take the ship headlong into the wind! Our life doesn’t have to be pushed in the direction that the rest of humanity is going. The hard circumstances that we face can either drive us to bitterness and hard heartenedness or we can set our soul to go against the norm. By aligning our soul with Christ through Bible study and prayer and fellowship with other believers, we tack against the troubles and go against them and rather than bitterness, we gain endurance and maturity!! James 1.
I’m a rebellious sort of guy and for years that kept me running from God. After years of troubles I finally surrendered to Him. I’ve found a place to use that rebel spirit of mine for good. Instead of rebellion towards God, I rebel against the world who could care less about any of us! I surrendered my ship to Jesus who tacks my soul against the world and drives this ship of my life towards Heaven !
Join the rebellion my friends! It’s a good life!