An Encouraging Word- He's Still In the Boat!

An Encouraging Word- He’s Still In the Boat    

    A few years ago I was on a trip with the Gallia Vinton Educational Service Center to explore the state of West Virginia.  Our first stop was the New River Gorge to go white water rafting. As a newbie I was surprised to learn that we were going to be going on Class I-Class V rapids on our four hour rafting trip that day. One of my friends told me I looked like I was walking to my death as we boarded the bus to go to our drop off location on the river. I laughed and told her my only thought was “I am probably going to die today but I am going to have fun!”.  

    When we met our river guide he told us his name was Sully. He asked if any of us had ever been white water rafting. I am pretty sure none of us had. Then he gave us a “pep talk”. He told us he was the smartest person on the boat and that all of us were dumb taters.  Ya know, I didn’t really like being called a dumb tater, but Sully was right. He was the smartest person on the boat. He had been a river guide for 17 years and had run trips twice a day down the New River. He knew every rock, every curve, every dip in that river for miles and miles. The rest of us dumb taters, well we didn’t know a darn thing!  

    Sully sat at the back of the boat and he told us that if he said to row that’s what we had to do and if he told us to stop that’s what we had to do. He promised us that if we listened to him we would probably make it out alive. (Well, it worked, cause I am writing this story today, years later.).  Sully had me sit in the front of the boat and even though I could not see him, I listened as hard as I could and tried my best to do every single thing he said. I trusted Sully.  I knew he was the only one on that boat that could get us through the white rapids and get us to where we needed to go. By the end of the trip, all of us dumb taters thanked Sully for guiding us through some scary parts of the expedition. 

    I have thought about that trip a lot over the years. It is such a good example of faith.  You know , we have more faith inside of ourselves than we understand. We have faith that when we lay down at night that we will wake back up in the morning. We have faith that our vehicle will start when we turn it on. We have faith that our roof will keep the weather out. We have faith that our teeth will stay in our mouth while we are eating. Those are also physical things that we can see and understand. Practicing our spiritual faith is similar but we cannot always see what God is doing . Sometimes we are just trying to hold on for dear life, praying we get through it. We cannot always hear His Voice guiding us. Sometimes we feel like I did when I was stuck in the front of the boat during that white water rafting trip with all the waves hitting me and pushing me around. I could not always see where we were going. Sometimes I was up in the air on top of the wave and sometimes I was underwater as the wave went over me. I could not see Sully. Sometimes I could hear him. Sometimes I could not. But, I always knew that he was there, at the back of the boat, guiding us through. And, for this dumb tater, that grew my faith that day in a river boat guide named Sully.

Let’s read Mark 4:35-41 (English Standard Version ) together:
“On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let’s go across to the other side.”  And leaving the crown, they took him with them on the board, just as he was. And other boards were with him. And a great  windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.  And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!”  And the wind ceased, and there was great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”  And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

    A few years ago a dear friend reminded me of this passage of Scripture when I was struggling with something in my life. He said, “ Melissa, you know the storm can rage. The circumstances can look terrible. It can feel like all hope is lost. But you know what? Jesus is still in the boat with you!”. 

    Think about that for a moment. The storm can rage. The circumstances may look terrible. It may feel like all hope is lost. But, Jesus is still in the boat with you. And guess what, friends? Even the wind and the sea have to obey him! It is kind of like me being in the front of that white water rafting boat a few years ago. I could not turn around and look for my guide Sully.  I had to try to listen to him I had to do what he asked me to do (row). I had to be brave. I had to have faith that he would get me to where I needed to go..  I knew he wasn’t leaving the boat! 

    Jesus is on this journey with you. It may be scary. It may seem impossible. Just keep moving forward. Just keep listening to his voice. He is still in the boat!


Songs to Encourage You:
Give Me Faith (Elevation Worship)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwmZCPRyTps&list=RDuwmZCPRyTps&start_radio=1

Gonna Be Alright (Matt Maher)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66jeCK6lL0A&list=RD66jeCK6lL0A&start_radio=1

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