Life is Often Like a Wild Water Ride
Aw! Water! Refreshing, cool, thirst-quenching water. I’ve been packing a lot of water over the last week or so. The warmer weather and being outdoors requires it.
But, today, I’m talking about the beautiful water features that I’ve been enjoying. My Austin family and I spent the last week at the Gulf of Texas’ Port Aransas. The ocean, pictured here, was like I had never seen. Multiple waves were always billowing in. It was easy to stand in it and get cooled off. But in the early morning, it was always high tide which meant it billowed way into land. See this lovely sand castle being carved? I left the beach before this expert sand castle sculptor finished it. The next morning when I walked the beach, it had been consumed by the high tide.
Now, back at home, I enjoy my community’s lake views — still waters with a backdrop of magnificent sunrises. Over the years, our family has enjoyed every water feature you could imagine. We frequented lakes and rivers all over the U.S. and Canada where we camped, fished, skied, fished, river rafted and kayaked. And there are no adequate words to convey the beauty of the majestic oceans and seas that we cruised. I recall my sweetheart sitting back, delighting in the stillness and beauty of those moments in all of those water places. He loved taking it all in. He was “home” by the water. I’m quite sure he’s made sure that our mansion in heaven is right by the River of Life.
What if life was like living by a pond or lake that represents stability and tranquility? It doesn’t change much. With the exception of a severe storm (like the tornados we encountered many times), a lake is a secure place with clear boundaries, stable waters, and a quiet shore. There is a sense of order, control, and safe predictability about a lake, with few major surprises from day to day.
I have found life to be more like traveling down a river. It’s extremely unpredictable and filled with many twists and turns, highs and lows, rapids and calms, unseen obstacles and unexpected objects. It can also be filled with exhilarating experiences that are packed full of adventure. You can ride the currents of a fast flowing river in a raft or kayak, but you have to avoid the potential dangers that can be devastating to a rider. We know that for a fact. When our kayaks tipped over, we were pulled into the rapids. But for the grace of God, we could have lost our lives. Our kayaks went on down the river….without us in them. Thank God, we had on life preservers.
As we journey on, we want life to be safe and secure for us and our loved ones, like my subdivision’s lakes with borders — no big changes or surprises. But, in reality, life is more like a river as it is continually moving in ways that we cannot control, predict, or expect. Doesn’t it feel like that’s exactly where we’re at right now? Every day is unpredictable – well, in our eyes – certainly not God’s. He is always in control.
The good news for us is that our security, stability, AND sanity are not found on the rivers of our lives, but in the Lord of our lives. Our hope is in Him who knows the way through the obstacles and the twists and turns. Our peace is found in the One who directs our course. Our hope is fixed upon the One Whose hands not only created the waters, but calms them, and He is THE ONE Who causes the unpredictability of the waters to work things together for our good. (Romans 8:28). I’m so certain – that all we have encountered in the last few months is a part of God’s providence in our lives and through it all, we are secure in God’s sovereign hands.
Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you…..”