Monday, May 23, 2011

And Be Patient With Me Even As I Struggle

 Years ago, a friend and I were in the Smokey Mountains about to take off on a white water rafting trip, and the guide was giving our group instructions on how to paddle the rafts. Now this was no dangerous river filled with monster rapids but it was a briskly moving stream, and if we were to avoid getting stranded repeatedly on gravel shoals we were going to need to know how to negotiate bends in the stream and how to read the current.
Apparently we were slow learners. After an hour of furious paddling and frequent beachings requiring us to get out of the raft and tow it to deeper water, freezing and tired, my friend said "That's it, I'm not paddling anymore!" Well I wasn't gonna do all the work so I quit paddling too. It's amazing how peaceful the trip got. We let the current guide us and with virtually no effort we completed the trip, enjoying the scenery.
 That's how my walk with the Lord goes all too often. Instead of letting God guide me I think I try to help God too much, not with the work assigned all Christians in the New Testament, I'll never be able to do too much there. No, I'm talking about sometimes I get our roles confused. I get to thinking God needs help with the executive decisions and I lose track of the concept that God steers and I row. Now if I insist, God will let me steer, but He's not gonna row. When I finally quit struggling against the current and allow God to take me where He wants things get more peaceful.

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