Will You Trust The Guide?

Last week I blogged about the Mancation trip we took in early July to Colorado. One of the events we participated in that week was a white water rafting trip down the Arkansas river. The rapids we were to raft through were rated as Class 4 out of 5 classes. There is a 6th Class but those are not rafted commercially.

Here are the definitions of a Class 4 and Class 5 white water rapids according to wetplanetwhitewater.com: Class 4: Long, difficult rapids with constricted passages that often require complex maneuvering in turbulent water. The course may be hard to determine and scouting is often necessary.

Class 5: Extremely difficult, long, and very violent rapids with highly congested routes, which should be scouted from shore. Rescue conditions are difficult, and there is a significant hazard to life in the event of a mishap. The upper limit of what is possible in a commercial raft.

Suffice it to say, I was glad we were not attempting the Class 5 rapids.Our group of 11 had to be split into 2 boats, so we decided to have the fathers and sons in one boat, since there were 6 of us out of the 11 and that worked out great. Below is a picture of us approaching one of the Class 4 rapids.

If you look at our faces, we are focused on what is ahead. Look at the guide in the far back. He is REALLY focused on what's ahead because he is telling us what to do at every moment of this rafting trip. We are told to always be looking down river. We are told to listen to his voice and we have been trained prior to and right after we entered the raft on how to use our oars to steer the boat. So, when the guide tells us to row forward or backward or one side of the boat to row forward and the other side to stop, etc. 

 In order for this raft to stay upright in the water, we had better listen and do as the guide has instructed.The guide also trained us on what to do IF we fall out of the raft. The main thing, if possible, is to stay as close to the raft as possible. The guide will help you by telling you what to do. We received plenty of instruction on various scenarios of falling out of the raft, how to handle ourselves in the water to keep from getting hurt.There was also instruction for the guys who were still in the raft on what to do as well.

The next picture below shows all of us now looking at the large boulders in the water that are causing the rapids we are about to go through.

If you can see the guides face, he looks calm and is determining what will be the next instruction to call out in order for us to get past these rapids and keep the boat from flipping. If you can see our faces, they do not look as comfortable as the guides. If you could read our minds they might tell you all kinds of things we are thinking at this point, the main thing being "stay in the boat!!". 

The next picture below you will see a much different picture. We are now flowing through the rapids.

Look at the guide. You can see where he is looking. He's watching everyone in the boat, looking at the boulder and he has this calm look on his face. Look at the rest of our faces. I can tell you we are still listening to the guide. In fact, the three guys on the low end of the boat are about to shift to climbing to meet the other three guys at the top of the boat to make sure the weight of the boat is pushed on the top side to keep the boat from flipping over on top of us.

This was one of the most fun things I have done in my life. It was also very rewarding to have done it with my step-son Karis. The other guys in the raft were Andy Currey with his son Brad. They were with me on the bottom side of the raft. I was in the back closest to the guide. My step son Karis is in the back and at the top of the raft, with Jason Guiver in the middle top of the raft with his son Logan at the front top of the raft. Fathers and sons working together to make a memory.

But as I was thinking about the rafting trip and I can see how there are so many object lessons that can be compared to our Christian walk. If we shared these object lessons with our children, at New Beginnings we  would call these "Faith Walk" conversations.

We have a guide that we follow in our Christian walk. Jesus Christ, when he left this earth, gave us the Holy Spirit. Rafting down this river we call life, there are going to be some calm waters and there are going to be some white water rapids. We need some training and that training comes from the Word of God and through Godly teachers and mentors.

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."




John 14:26  "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

We need to listen to our guide. We can have confidence that our guide will be calm during the rough rapids. We need to trust our guide that He knows what to say and when to say it. We need to hear our guide, because if we can't hear Him, we won't know which way to paddle.If we don't know which way to paddle, we might flip the raft or we might fall out of the raft. We need to know what to do at the most crucial times so that we don't flip the raft. The guide will also help us IF we fall out of the raft. He can help us to get back in the raft where it's safe.

There are plenty of opportunities to use object lessons to begin Faith Walk conversations with your children about God and how He is working in and through their lives everyday.

  

 Terry Langenberg
Twitter: TheLangenberg
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