Tacking: Changing Course to Work With the Wind

A Sailing Devotional

Sometimes the wind doesn't blow directly toward your destination. In fact, it might blow directly against where you want to go. A less experienced sailor might get frustrated: "The wind is against me. I can't reach my destination."

But an experienced sailor knows differently. You use tacking – changing your course at an angle to the wind, moving toward your destination indirectly. You sail northeast for a while, then turn and sail northwest. You're not going directly where you want, but you're still making progress toward your goal. You work with the wind instead of fighting it.

This is exactly how God often guides us.

We have a destination in mind – a job we want, a relationship we desire, a goal we're pursuing. Then circumstances don't cooperate. The "wind" blows against us. Plans fall through. Doors close. We get frustrated because we're not going directly toward our goal.

But God might be calling us to tack. To adjust our course. To move toward the destination indirectly while working with the circumstances we face rather than fighting them.

Proverbs 19:21 says: "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

Your plans might say go northeast. God's wind might require you to tack – go northwest first. Trust the process.

Jeremiah 29:11 says: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

God has plans. Sometimes those plans require tacking. Indirect routes. Changed courses.

Romans 8:28 says: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

All things. Even when you have to tack. Even when the direct route is blocked. God is working toward your ultimate good.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says: "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."

The race marked out. Not the race you designed. Not the direct route you planned. The race He marked out. Sometimes that requires tacking.

The tragedy is when people refuse to tack. They see the wind blowing against them and they just give up. They don't adjust. They don't work with God's leading. They sit still and never reach their destination.

Tomorrow's Practice: Identify one area where you're fighting the wind – where circumstances aren't cooperating with your plans. Instead of fighting, try tacking. What would it look like to adjust your course while still moving toward your ultimate destination? Maybe the job you wanted fell through, but you could take a different position that develops skills you'll need later. Maybe the relationship didn't work out, but this opened you to meet someone better. Look for how God might be calling you to tack – to adjust your course – while still moving toward the destination He has for you.

Reflection Question: When circumstances force you to change course, do you see it as failure or as tacking – adjusting your course to work with God's direction while still moving toward your ultimate destination?