It's Just Around The Bend

Rafting on the White River …for 6 hours.

It was suppose to be about a 4 hour trip, but it went on forever, or at least that's the way it felt ...does anyone else have the "Gilligan’s Island" theme song playing in their head? 

The guide told us the trip will last about 4 hours if we do some paddling. He also said, “When you start seeing houses on the right then the boat ramp will be just around the bend, and I will meet you there.”

It started out great. The water and temperature were a little cold, but the weather was great, the river was moving, and we were having a lot of fun. All 6 of us fit into the raft fairly comfortably. Usually some of us sat straddling the side with one leg hanging over into the cool water and that way there was more room.

It was fun at first, but near the 4 hour mark we were getting tired and a little bored. We were also starting to get hungry …hmmm, it would have been a good idea to bring lunch. Well at least it was the 4 hour mark and we should be getting to the bend he was talking about which would represent the near end of our journey. What we didn’t realize was the river was flowing slower than expected and we didn’t paddle enough, so we were not near the final bend yet. We did finally come to a big bend and figured this was it! The boat ramp is just around this bend and we’ll be done. We can get out of the water, rest our arms and legs, be on solid ground, eat dinner. We finally floated around the bend and much to our dismay we didn’t see a boat ramp or anything. It was not the final bend! Oh how frustrated we were which was made worse by how tired we were. We started to complain about our adventure (which we loved at the beginning), and we started getting frustrated with each other. We so wanted our journey to end, and we didn’t even realize all the reasons why we wanted it to end.

We kept looking for the boat ramp …longing for it.

The boat ramp was significant. It represented the end of our very long journey, but it also represented food, water, rest, security, and comfort. Longing for the boat ramp is like longing for the Lord and heaven (Psalms 63:1, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you…”). The earth moans and groans for heaven, as we do. Sometimes we are moaning and groaning and we don’t realize we are doing it, and other times we know we are doing it, but we don’t realize we are moaning and groaning for the Lord and heaven (Romans 8:22-23, “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption”).

We need to realize sometimes when we are frustrated, tired, groaning, moaning, complaining, or whining, it is because inwardly we are longing for our Lord …and we don’t realize it. The next time you feel this way stop and ask yourself, “Why?” Then ask the Lord “Why?” and talk with Him. The next time someone else is displaying these “symptoms” stop and ask yourself, “Why?” Maybe they are just longing for the Lord and don’t realize it. Pray for them and your attitude towards them.

Well, we finally started seeing the houses our guide was talking about and the final river bend. As we came around the bend we were a little anxious, and a little excited with anticipation. We wanted to be at the boat ramp so bad we all leaned to our left and craned our necks to see if it was actually there as we came around the bend, it’s a wonder we didn’t flip the raft.

Praise the Lord! There was the boat ramp and two guys to help us out of the river. We were saved! We made it …6 hours after we started. (Psalms 62:5, “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him.”)

There's a lot of lessons to be learned from our journey...

…to be continued.

Love You,

Dad