Trust the Guide

Life these days feels like a daily exercise in white-water rafting. I practice a vigilant awareness of my surroundings while watching the water ahead to decide how to navigate around the next rock. Here is the thing: I can either stay centered, ready to high-side when needed, or I can dock the craft and curl up on the sandbar.  Some days, I tell the world to bring it on. Some days, I never leave the sandbar.

When I am amid the roar and foam, God is the guide who perches in the stern, feet planted, calling out commands. Do I trust His call? Well, when I am onboard (pun intended), I lean forward, waiting to brace the next batch of white water with confidence. When I have abandoned ship (another pun intended), I count the grains of sand on the sandbar and wait.  Often, I find God in the pause.

The problem with sand management is that indulging in it for too long leads to procrastination, perfectionism, indecision, and spiritual discord. I hesitate, not wanting to push off into the frothy deluge of rapids running past my shore. I want to control what is directly around me as I attempt to build the perfect sandcastle.

I avoid the water and, in doing so, avoid God.  I am no longer consciously connected with Him. I’m giving the side-eye, offering a hastily said prayer while stacking round flat rocks one on top of the other. Eventually, the discomfort of waiting on my own ego becomes too much. The Holy Spirit nudges me to pick up the paddle. I surrender control and obey gentle direction as I move back into the rapids once again.  

There is something to be said about the differences between surrender and obeying. Each blesses us differently.  One is internal, and the other is external.

Surrendering can take a long time for those of us who are misguided into thinking we have a better plan than God's.

Philippians 4:13 is a verse Paul wrote while he was imprisoned. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Paul’s pride and ego are not center stage. In his surrender, Paul draws on strength and endurance through his faith. He finds contentment and power in the one he knows can make the impossible possible. Jesus Christ. Paul let go of the outcome and placed his trust in the Father. He practices God’s Will, not his.

Obedience is what comes from surrender- paddling the current as instructed because our trust is in God. We move confidently into action, and the season or situation turns from fear of the unknown to a spiritual knowing that the journey is as planned.

Our actions become love offerings, and with this love comes transformation. The more we obey God amid the white water, the stronger our trust grows. Our shoulders drop. Our lives unfold. The strength of the rapids begins to slow. The canyon walls we pass are no longer menacing but become pillars of beauty and wonder as the morning light creeps down along the red rock to the river below. Peace and gratitude follow.

It’s time to push off the sandbar and trust the Guide.

³ You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.⁴ Trust in the Lord forever; he will always protect us. Isaiah 26:3-4 (GNT)