Riding the Rapids

 

A picture hangs above the bed, taken years ago in Colorado. Robbie, Kyle, Craig, and other young folk perch inside a raft, everyone wearing an orange life vest. All eyes focus forward, on the white water bubbling up from rocks tumbling down a hillside. Some faces smile with delight and anticipation; others register alarm.

At the back of the boat is a slightly older person, showing no surprise, only careful attention to the action. He’s done this before.

We can look at the news, hear of disasters, and be disheartened, overwhelmed even. It feels as if we are pitching down a precipitous and dangerous river. Which, in fact, we are. But Jesus is our safety; he provides the life jackets which keep us afloat when we do fall out of the boat and get into difficulties. He is also the captain, overseeing our direction, adjusting the rudder to steer us away from disaster.

We have a choice when we look at our world. We can be disheartened, or we can perceive opportunities. Each of the teenagers in that boat holds an oar. Each one has it in their grasp to alter the course of the boat. Presumably, as every oar is gathered into the boat in this picture, the captain gave them instructions not to use the oars just yet, but to ride it out.

Jesus is giving us instructions today. He is calling each of us to pray, a powerful oar which can change seemingly catastrophic situations. He is calling some of us to sign petitions, write to our politicians, join marches, and use whatever platform we have to speak out for justice and mercy, to bring light into dark situations. Sometimes he is guiding us to ship our oars and trust that he has it.

I lay awake through some hours of the night. The radio droned out interesting World Service programs: interesting, but discouraging. Femicide in Mexico. Covid-19 in 87% of the bodies tested in a morgue in Lusaka. Re-instatement of masking requirements in Los Angeles as Covid cases soar again. The UK government’s heartless cutting of the overseas aid budget, and the disastrous effects that will have. Unprecedented flooding and deaths in Germany. And on and on.

The canoe is pitching downwards but Jesus is at the helm. May I be alert to his voice today, responsive to his directions, quick to obey, able to trust. May I grasp the hope of Christ and seize any opportunity I have today to bring glory to God.