a river too wide...a boat too small

My wife occasionally takes a weekend trip to visit her sister out of state.  She always tells me, "Now don't get into trouble while I'm gone...I know you!"  I always insist that I won't get into any mischief...but then I still do, somehow.  Yesterday morning I set out with my little 8 foot kayak to find a creek to paddle in not far from our home.  I had found all the roadways blocked to vehicles from one side of the creek last week (chains across the entrance with "No trespassing" signs posted by a local hunt club).  So I thought I'd try to reach the creek from the other side.  But, once again, the access roads that led to the water were locked and chained with the same signs posted.  So I decided to head to the public boat landing on the York River.  I thought that maybe I could inch my way up the coast and find where the creek met the river.  The older gentleman working for the county kindly let me put my kayak in the water even though I didn't have the $6 in cash to park at the landing.  I slipped on my rubber boots, grabbed my backpack and carried the kayak to the water.  The York River is wide at this point...maybe close to a mile wide.  I sat on the kayak and began to paddle away from the landing.  As I turned to head down the shoreline I felt the water moving under me with greater pitch than I experienced on my pond and I knew I was in trouble...I felt the kayak roll and I rolled with it!  I found myself being baptized before I had time to feel repentant.  All I could think of was "hypothermia", "heavy clothes weighing me down", "there goes the cell phone", and "boots full of water".  For a second I just wondered how I was going to get to shore.  Then I put my feet down and realized the water was only about four feet deep and I was able to wade back to shore, dragging the kayak.  I walked sheepishly past the park attendant.  He had just left an envelope on the truck windshield so I could come back with the $6 later.  When he saw my condition he pulled the envelope and said, "We'll just forget about the fee."  I had tried to take a boat too small on a river too wide.  I suppose our lives can be like this.  The problems that try to swamp us every day are like the pitch and roll of a wide river.  We enter at the water's edge with our little boat, thinking we'll be able to inch through the day and make it down the shore...but we may not be prepared.  Life is a wide river and , though it may appear manageable and calm, it has a force and a power that can overturn our boat and throw us into the water.  We need a bigger boat and we need to be better prepared by spending time with our Lord daily...in His Word...in His presence...in His arms.

I went home...dried off...ordered a new cell phone...and went out to buy a bigger kayak.....

Matthew 14:²⁴ But the boat was now in the middle of the sea,tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. ²⁵ Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

 

soggy blessings,

Rob Smith (I promise to be more careful)