Journey with me through my corny illustration that I have been working on in the depths of my mind.
The church is like an old wind-powered ship. It's sails are up and the wind blows. Now the captain of the ship can either take the ship in the direction the wind is blowing or fight against the wind and try to take it in the direction he prefers.
On a healthy ship, everyone wants to go where the wind is blowing. They even help point out shifts in the wind to the captain if he hasn't already become aware to them. A healthy ship is all about the wind.
On an unhealthy, disease-ridden ship, the captain might want to take the ship where the wind blows, but the crew could be too lazy to help get the sails in the right position to take full advantage of the wind. In the worst case scenario the crew might become mutinous and prevent the captain from guiding the ship in the direction the wind blows. The wind might not be taking them where they want to go, so they will fight the wind, usually in the form of fighting the captain, until either the captain gives up or is thrown overboard.
It could also be the other way around on an unhealthy ship. The crew could want to go where the wind blows, but the captain doesen't allow it. He is set on reaching the island that he planned on reaching rather than shifting his plans according to the way the wind blows. Maybe he just read a great new book of charts and wants to go to the places in that book. However, that book of charts was most likely written for a different ship in a different place than the ship the captain finds himself in.
A healthy ship doesn't fight the wind. It has a trained crew that knows how to utilize the sails most efficiently. It has a captain who is solely focused on going where the wind blows and helping the crew have his abilities as a captain. A healthy ship guided by the wind won't have the struggles of other ships. They let the wind be their guide.
If only God's will was as easy to decipher as the direction of the wind.
Watch out for potholes and bad currents.
