Last week I took 30 7-8th graders whitewater canoeing down the Brule River. It is an exhilarating 3 mile stretch of fun rapids and moving water. On one stretch a young person sandwhiched his foot between a few rock and broke two toes. As I was coming to meet them from the back of the train of canoes, I realized there were no adults at the head of the bunch.
I made it to the final canoe landing and things got worse: no canoes! All the kids had proceeded further down past the final landing.My parent sense started freaking out. Not another canoe landing for 10 miles and Mays Ledges, a treacherous rapids somewhere in that stretch. So, I paddled like a demon possessed man catching up to one canoe after another and sending them back upstream. 15 minutes later all were safe...but 3 miles down the river with only one thing to do: Paddle Upstream!
Our Christian walk is like paddling upstream. It's easy to follow the downstream current of the world, but to follow Jesus? That takes a different, more difficult mindset and sometimes 5 times the amount of effort or strokes. Paddling upstream is hard, but worth it. God opens our eyes to see the hurting, the oppressed, and the lonely and actually do something about it. It's hard to serve, its hard to spend time with God in prayer and scripture...but it's worth it. Keep paddling and find that deep well of God within you. When you paddle upstream with God, sooner or later you're paddling downstream with God into the world! Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment