Regardless of how cliche the expression may be, I consider a ship at sea without a rudder. The ship floats aimlessly, wherever and whichever direction the currents take it. There’s no means to choose a destination. If the sailor wishes to travel in a particular direction, it’s too bad. If he has some purpose he wants to fulfill, that purpose will remain out of his reach, and he will float aimlessly until his ship crumbles beneath him — not likely, I’m thinking — or he is ran aground, trapped in a place not of his choosing, never to achieve the fulfillment of his purpose. Assuming he even knows what that purpose is.
How do we know what our purpose is in this life? I’ve prayed and prayed, and when something comes to mind … is that an answer from God? Or is it just my mind resolving its own answer, and the “purpose” I imagine isn’t what God’s purpose for me is?
Not knowing my purpose is worse that being without a “rudder”; it’s more like having that rudder and being trapped in another part of the ship, not even knowing where the rudder is. Worse than being lost.