Man, I love that country. To me, it's the true definition of “God’s country”.
I had been through Jackson Hole a couple times before, but usually on two-wheels, so white water rafting was never an option…. until this past summer. It was on my bucket list for this trip. To tell you the truth though, I was expecting it to be about one step up from a float. Apparently, “level 3” is a tad bit above that. Okay, more than a tad. I was nervous when I realized what I had gotten myself into. I had one serious water-related incident in my lifetime… certainly didn’t need another. When I found out it didn’t require helmets though, I calmed down and told myself this would be a good thrill, but safe. “You can do this”.
Anyway, it was a blast. The first rapids we came upon I thought, WOW!! That was great!! And then the guide said, “Okay everyone, our first rapids are coming up ahead”. I looked down at my chest to see if ROOKIE truly was written there. The first couple were warm-up and they got more aggressive as we went. On our toughest rapids, we’d be looking UP the wave as we went into it… and at times, those of us who volunteered to be in front were completely under the water. Whenever we approached the rapids, our guide would yell at us repeatedly to “check that your feet are secure!!!”…. “assume an athletic position!!!!”…. “keep paddling through the rapids at all times!!!”. His instructions were clear… and they were for our safety.
There are photographers stationed at a certain point along the route. Selling photos is a moneymaker for them. But, it’s possibly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so who doesn’t want a photo to remember it by!! So, yes… I had to order a few.
Looking at the pictures, talking about the instructions, and thinking about the experience…. it really hit me hard how similar it was to life as Christians. I was honestly a bit chocked up. Tears welled in my eyes as I felt God showing me this message. We will not be on a constant float trip, my friends… we’re going to hit some rapids. Put yourself on that raft and picture yourself assuming an “athletic position”. What does that look like to you?? I see perseverance. I see claiming ourselves as children of God. I see renouncing the evil one out loud. Now hear with me your guide yelling at you to “check that your feet are secure”!!! What does that mean to you?? To me, it means prayer… prayer… and more prayer. It means a support system of Christian friends. It means diving into God’s word. What about the instruction to “keep paddling at all times”?? I hear “… and let us run with endurance the race God has put before us.” (Heb. 12:1)
And yes, then there’s the guide. Pretty obvious, isn’t it. What actually struck me about this picture is that when we were battling what to us was this HUGE WAVE (albeit only a level 3)… fighting to even stay on the boat at times…. doing our best to KEEP PADDLING in order to keep the boat upright… our guide was in the back doing just that. Guiding. He was in TOTAL control even though we felt so out of control. At times he steered us around the rapids… and at times he steered us straight into them. But at ALL times, he was in total control. That, to me, is the picture of our one TRUE GUIDE: The Holy Spirit. We may not understand why He takes us where He does, we may be drenched, exhausted and sore... but He gives us the tools and instructions we need to get safely through the rapids.
Don’t you find, though, that when you look back and reflect over this adventure called life…. you can see His Hand?? Can you see how He was there the whole time… in total control?? What a comfort that is.
I pray that for all of you, my friends.
I also pray that in between the rapids, there will be plenty of beautiful times to just enjoy the float.
What a ride, you know??
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