Last year was my first experience with white water rafting. The church took a group to a place near Chattanooga, TN which was actually used for the Olympics in 1996. I was new to this so I tried to pay attention to what our guide was telling us and do what he said. I was really impressed with our guide’s knowledge about the river. He might say something like, “There is a rock on the right side. Left side, paddle twice.” We would, and sure enough, we would pass a rock that was submerged under the water. He was good enough that he knew how to get us stuck to get us wet and how to get us out of when we were stuck. We went the whole way without flipping until the end when he purposely flipped us.
That experience makes me think about life. God is the experienced guide. The difference is that He has complete knowledge about how to live life to get us to the end safely. He has sent us His word so that we might know how to live our lives and avoid obstacles (Psalm 119:110). The church is like those guys who rode in the raft with me. We had to work together so we would not fall out of the raft. In fact, there were times when our guide would say something to the effect of: “Hit the deck,” where we would have to get in the raft and lock arms with the person beside us so we would not fall out. Let us be active in church so our brothers and sisters can help us and we can help them (Ephesians 4:16). Sometimes someone would fall out of the raft due to their carelessness or refusal to listen to the guide. The guide would graciously invite those who had fallen out back into the raft. That is life. Sometimes we fall out, but God graciously calls us back. One other thing I am convinced of is that, unlike our guide, God will never intentionally “flip” us out of His presence. We serve the greatest, best guide. Listen to Him.
