Quote:

---

If you can't see the water line, it is ...

TIME TO
UNLOAD

When I was a child, my father, on leave from World War II, took my sister and me to the Liverpool dock yards to see the merchant ships that brought us food.

"Brave men have risked their lives to bring us this precious cargo." he told us.

I noticed a line painted around each vessel. "What's that for?" I asked.

"To show the people loading the ship how much it's made to carry," he said. "If they put too little inside, it won't be full enough to do what it was made to do. Each boat is made by its builder to carry just the right amount."

People too are built to carry a load. God, I think, has made me a large cargo ship. I carry a lot, but there is still a level I need to watch.

I thought of Jesus saying to his disciples, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). Jesus' lesson was clear: linked to him, we have the help needed to bear our loads.

That word "burdened" was used only one other place in the Bible. Paul was in a storm at sea and the sailors had to lighten the over-burdened ship. They threw the cargo overboard in an attempt to save everyone.

I must remind myself that God is the boat builder. He knows who we are, how big our holds are, what he wants us to carry. The way to fulfillment lies in keeping the painted line on our ships above the water line and keep sailing.

Condensed from Virtue (May/June 1995), (c) 1995
Jill Briscoe. Used by permission.

---