A week, stranded at sea, the belly of the whale engulfed over 4,200 passengers and crew members, clasping all aboard with the stench of abandonment. Their cries were silent to the world but herd aloud inside the Carnival Triumph.
Disaster struck at a time when time promised them a reprieve from life. The whale sat silent unreturned to their cries for deliverance, but receptive to the rotten smell of food, and waste, this was a carnival surfaced by the masterminds of hell.
Uncertainty choked certainty, desperation set in and a new beast is developed in efforts to take on the larger beast.
Survival of the fittest
As horrendous as the conditions were, it worsens as the necessities of survival are seen dwindling, ultimately giving rise to a new beast.
Being in the belly of the whale of life can place us in an uncompressing position. One of discomfort, estrangement, and desolation. We cry aloud and yet no one hears us. Our pains are noticeable as we smell with the stench of defeat. Life gets tough.
The weight of the world grows heaver when we think no one is listening. Desperation starts taking over our thoughts while our options to comfortably survive become limited; our will to live grows and our sense for life heightens as we are confronted face to face with death. Thinking back to the importance of life, we inhale happy thoughts of happiness and exhale the strength to move forward - a process that transforms us from captive to captivated.
But at the moment of our breaking free we decide to ‘build a ship that can pull us through' rather than ‘building a ship that you can pull through' you devise a plan to triumph over hells carnival with hopes of leading you to the exit.
But life is like the waves of the sea, if you build a vessel or rather, a plan to get you through your current situation, you may get caught in the wake of the waves and pushed back further from where you are trying to get. Soon enough, life will make sure you get lost at sea and unreachable by anyone but God.
Faith is the tug boat that gets you back home
The greatest man or woman in the world is the one who has placed their faith in God through Jesus Christ. Faith is the tug boat that God built. He doesn't remove the challenge in your life, He strengthens you with might, and wisdom to overcome, triumph, and reign over it.
When a challenge is removed a wimp is revealed, when a challenge is moved a strong man is unveiled.
For those in Christ Jesus will live by faith in Him, not in themselves lest they lean to their knowledge and fall. When we cry God hears and answers, a week passed before the members of the Triumph were off the ship, but their cry was heard on day one.
Life is filled with challenges, some are there to help you define yourself and lead you to God, while other challenges help you to become more like God - triumphant!
To Gods children: He wants us to be more like him, don’t shun from it. Know that just like those on the ship with a fight to see their families and get out of the belly of the whale, God desires greatly that when you too come out, that your personal relationship will reflect more like Jesus’- greater intimacy.
