#PRAY4UNITY

Have you ever watched a rowing team in action? You probably won’t see much television coverage outside of the Olympics, but there’s always YouTube. These teams are incredible. The amount of unity it takes to be successful in this sport is nothing short of amazing.

Do you know how the eight-man (or woman) teams get every single team member working together in such perfect sync? The secret is the coxswain.

The what? The coxswain is a member of the team (a 9^th person on board an 8-man team) who sits in the stern facing the bow (while the rowers sit with their backs to the direction of travel). He or she is responsible for steering the racing shell, coordinating the rhythm of the rowers, executing race strategy, giving instructions, and encouraging and motivating the crew to give it all they’ve got. He’s literally the coach in the boat.

If the coxswain (pronounced “COX-en”) provides the right guidance and the team follows his lead, then their vessel will take a straight course toward the finish line and find good success.

But if the team members fail to follow directions, then not only will they struggle to even make it to the finish line, everyone will grow quickly frustrated with the effort, the team will implode with accusations and blame, and their very safety in the water will certainly be jeopardized.

In our nation today, we’re like a rowing crew who’s thrown the coxswain overboard. We quit listening to the one voice who knows the direction we need to go, who can steer us in the right way, and who can provide all the encouragement and help we need to be successful. Everyone, it seems, hates being told when to pull, when to take correction, when to change pace, or when to do anything. No wonder we’re so far off course!

When everyone thinks he’s in charge, then nobody’s in charge. And if there’s not a single, clear, unifying voice we all agree to listen to, then there’s no hope for unity and no hope for victory. We’re each rowing to the beat of our own inclinations, our own opinions, our own philosophies, our own standards of right and wrong, and the results are becoming predictably disastrous.

Friend, the voice we need to hear is the voice of God. It’s His Word that provides clear instruction for our good, for our success. It’s His way that we need to follow in order to navigate toward the goal. “This God – His way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him” (Psalm 18:30).

The division and disunity we’re seeing today – in the home, in communities, in our nation, etc. – and all of the disastrous consequences thereof, can be traced at its root to the fact that we don’t like God telling us what to do. We’d rather do whatever seems right in our own eyes, not realizing that, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12).

Let’s come together on Thursday, May 3, and pray for unity in America. Join us on the west lawn of the Menard County Courthouse at high noon, and let’s agree that we need to hear the voice of God and follow His truth. Let’s tune our hearts, our minds, our words, our attitudes, and our actions to His will. And let’s row in unity as He calls the shots to see our nation start moving in the right direction.