Disturb Us Lord [Devotion]

This week I wanted to share a prayer that has greatly inspired me in my walk over the last year or so. Often attributed to the great explorer and privateer, Sir Francis Drake. But whether he actually penned it or not is not the issue. The content of this prayer is at once convicting, humbling, and encouraging.

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ. (Francis Drake 1577)

Disturb us Lord... what a weighty phrase. How often do we pray that? How often are we so consumed by the desire for God to glorify Himself in our lives that we ask Him to take us to the place where we have nothing to cling to but Him. Not that we should seek out hardships and heartache, but are willing to ask God to take us into the stormy seas where it is obvious that He is Lord? Are we willing to pursue God to the point where we will leave behind the perceived safety of sailing near the shore to see the stars of His glory and Lordship? It's ironic that we perceive sailing out of sight of land as dangerous when, in fact, most shipwrecks happen in shallow water. Let our prayer be not for comfort but for courage, not for ease but for endurance, not for absence of things that frighten us but for the bravery to face them in the power of our Savior! Remember that this world is not our home, the things we face here are a fleeting blink of an eye compared with eternity. 1Corinthians 1:27-29 says, "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." God uses our weaknesses to show His strength, our inability to show His ability, our need to show His provision. When we follow Him to leave our false safety behind we place ourselves at His faithful mercy. I would far rather be captained through the storm by Christ than pilot myself through any calm waters. At least that is the attitude I am striving for as I pray, "disturb us Lord."