From Woodstock up: The Journey

Does anyone else feel like they have just shot the rapids of the most challenging leg of the Snake or the Gauley or the Colorado Rivers? It wasn’t as invigorating but it was just as hazardous as we stayed glued to the news feeds this weekend, holding our breaths and calming our heart rate, while our president sent the bombers to put an end to the nuclear ambitions of one extremely unstable regime. I would rather have been on the Upper Gauley in West Virginia!

When I have gone kayaking, canoeing or floating down a river in the past I learned to be very aware of the often rocky bottom beneath me and around me. Some rock bottoms are large sheets or slabs of limestone and you never want to get out of a boat there, especially in fast water! Other times you have shoots of rapids that careen down between enormous boulders to left and right. Your steering ability must be strong and accurate here. Although an occasional bounce off a boulder can be a successful calculated risk to steer you in the right direction. But it is very treacherous if you have spilled over to walk where the water is fast and many stones scatter the bottom, where feet can get entangled and trapped, pulling you under!

I guess this means to me that in all the rocky bottoms I have dealt with; death, suicides, drugs or alcohol, abandonment and wanton sinful excess, Jesus has taught me to skillfully follow His shoot down between the hazards and stay in the boat upright to float over the slippery stones, and escape the entrapment of the bottom. Floating rather than ever sinking again is my goal and He is my life preserver, my boat, my strong arms, and my awareness of the waters swirling around me. Its all about Jesus and not just avoiding the traps!

With all this experience and awareness and faith what is one small possible worldwide nuclear conflict to me? Ridiculous thought to compare that to a kayaking adventure! And yet that’s what came to mind in response to my devotional lesson about Jonah today. He was sent to die in the depths of a raging sea, the sacrificial lamb of the hour, yet an incomprehensible almighty God chose to save him by making him a tasty bit of fish bait. All for His infinite wise Purposes!

When I look at the brave faces of the many citizens of Israel who have endured through such a time as this, hours of prayer, fear and boredom in bomb shelters not knowing when their number would be up, I cannot imagine that level of patient suffering and faith in God that got them through it. Surely the faithful were praying Psalm 91 day and night, as missiles fell, “He will cover you with his wings… You will not fear the terror of  the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,…nor the destruction that wastes at noonday” (91:4-6) Sadly, some citizens, no doubt, lack any faith and were either numb, frantic or resigned to a fate they could not control. Have they perhaps awakened now and are seeking the truth?

I have to ask then, what are God’s ‘infinite wise purposes’ and plans even in something like our nation’s military action and Israels’ Rising Lion war? If these things He allows are part of a greater purpose, then I can get behind that, in faith and ride the wild rock-strewn river with confidence that God’s will shall be done. I know that as a Christian amidst many, those prayers were filling the throne room and fueling the Faith and Confidence of our leaders as well as the men who served to accomplish the mission. Did I feel fear? Maybe a little in the wee hours when the outcome was unknown. Did I see our nation or the world crashing and melting into oblivion. Not at all.

It really is simply wrapped up in that one little phrase Jesus spoke in His model prayer, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). And so, it Must be! The rest of my comprehension rests on many hours of study about the prophesies of the end times and the return of our Lord. This is not the time or place to dig into that, but I encourage a thorough study of every prophetic word spoken by the Prophet Daniel, to Ezekiel to Joel and then Jesus’ words in Matthew 24, all of Thessalonians and Revelation, (for starters). Easy-peasy. If you aren’t there yet that is fine just remember to pray always “and whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). This is Jesus’ own assurance to us and He is with us always. Who else do you think would be in the stern?