On the River of Life with Christ

This past weekend I went with some friends canoeing. I have to say, I did not start out the day thinking of how to use the experience as a reflection of how we live our lives as Christians (though everything is such a reflection), but God quickly came to my feeble mind's aid and showed me how much we need one another.

The group on seven of us started our journey with one kayak and three canoes. The river was too low for a third person in one canoe, so we found one person who had experience with kayaking and he agreed to do the same this time around. As we went down the river, a few things struck me.

We are interdependent on one another for control and speed of the canoe, and communication is vital to this process. Now, for those of you who know me well, you know I've been in a canoe many times, and the last statement should be sort of "duh" to me. Well, duh, but it's implications for our life in Christ just donned on my this weekend. Now add to the need for communication and team work the necessity of knowing what you're doing. This means wisdom and understanding. One example is being able to read the river, knowing where the rocks are based on how the water flows, and knowing when to let the river control or when to paddle hard against it. The other thing about teamwork in a canoe is that you can share stories and experiences while you're in the slow parts, there's fellowship.

OK, so some of you may know where I'm going with this, but I have to share it anyway, as this is the point of this post. First, we are interdependent on the entire Body of Christ. Ephesians 1 says the church is His Body. In Corinthians we are reminded that the body has to work together, and if one part is not functioning properly, we are all without that necessary component. Same goes for the canoe. If I steer and there's no one to power paddle, I could make sure we're in the right direction, but we'd get no where. Conversely, if my teammate paddles her heart out, but I do not steer, we're likely to end up in a tree or logded on the side of the river.

Steering is an intersting thing as well. We need communication in order to know how to direct the canoe. In life, we need to communicate with one another in order to know how to function properly, and in order to know how to minister to one another and to the world around us. If a close friend has the gift of generousity (all who know me know I lack this gift), and doesn't know about the need that she could minister to, but I do, my communication of that need is vital to God's using this friend to minister to that need. This also takes wisdom and understanding.

There are times in our lives when we come across a supposed need and want to pour ourselves out in response. Sometimes this is appropriate, and we are correct in doing so, but there are other times when it is unhelpful to do so. Think again of the canoe. There are times when it's right to put all you energy into paddling as hard and fast as you can to make the canoe go against the direction of the river's flow. There are other times it's best to let the river carry you, either when it's a strong current and fighting would simply spin you around or flip you over, or other times when it's restful and you have time to take in all the beauty that God has placed around you.

In life, we need to communicate with one another, and with God who controls our circumstances, to know when it's appropriate to put our whole self into it, when it's meaningless to put for effort that would be better preserved for later, or when God simply says it's time to rest. In those times when we sit back and rejuvenate our souls, we have a wonderful opportunity to have fellowship with others and share what God is doing in our lives.

Before I close, I have to give a shout out to one of those canoers who will be surprised to find out that I actually wrote out an outline before typing this out (you know who you are).

So really, we need to make sure we take every opportunity to communicate with God and one another, to search out wisdom and understanding, and take in the restful times as well. God created us for fellowship with one another, and in taking this times, we learn more and more of what we need to function as the Body of Christ, His church. God send you forth today.