Go With The Flow

I am blessed to be writing this week’s blog from the deck of a mountain cabin we are renting in Banner Elk, North Carolina.  It is our second year renting this beautiful home and I never tire of the view.  No matter how many times I look out at the mountains, God’s majesty always takes my breath away.  This place rests my weary mind.  It is my peaceful place.  It is where my heart can just beat in sync with the gentle breeze and where the sun warms away all my cares.

As I journaled yesterday, I was confronted by a question.  “Why can’t you find this peace at home?”  “Why must you travel eight hours to settle your spirit?”  The obvious answer is on vacation you don’t have the day-to-day worries and responsibilities of your everyday life.  If something breaks, you call the property management company.  If you get up early, it’s by choice.  The only bills you have are for one-of-a-kind finds at the cute gift shoppe in town, a great meal, or the next sticker for your Hydroflask.  There is a gentle rolling of life on vacation.  Even for a type A control freak like me. 

As He so often does, God answered that question earlier today.  It’s our last day of vacation as I write this.  We decided to go tubing on the New River in Boone.  The morning started out cloudy but as we got our tubes and got into the river, the clouds broke, and we enjoyed a sunny two-mile float.  If you’ve ever gone tubing before, you know that your best bet is to trust the river’s current.  Sometimes, you have to paddle a little to stay away from the shore or avoid a rock.  But for the most part, the river knows the best course.  After all, it’s been doing it’s thing a lot longer than my behind has been in an innertube.

But, of course, in Rhonda’s world, the river must  need my help. I paddled my arms one way to keep from getting too close to the bank, another way to get back to the faster current, another so that I could turn myself around to see where I was headed rather than float aimlessly into God knows what.  And there you have it.  A metaphor for my life.  Given to me just moments after I tried to get back on  my innertube after falling off and into the river trying to redirect myself.  I envision God laughing in that way parents do when their kids do something that could have been avoided had they just listened.  And saying to me, “Daughter, go with the flow.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 is a very well-known verse:  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.”  In Proverbs 3:1-12, Solomon is giving his son encouragement, urging him to heed his teaching and trust wholeheartedly in the Lord.  In verse 5, “Trust in the Lord” is translated in Hebrew as b’takh el y’hovah – literally, trust in Jehovah.  Batakh means “to cling to” “to set one’s confidence and hope upon.” 

In the river and in my life, too often I don’t cling to God.  I am not fully confident of His ability to direct my path.  That isn’t easy to say.  I believe He can.  But somewhere, deep down, I still think that I need to control rather than assist.  This verse doesn’t tell us to float around and do nothing.  God has gifted us with abilities He expects us to use.  But our planning, our efforts, our actions, must stem from our reliance on God.  Hearing from Him the part He wants us to play on the path He has set for us.  We need to achieve the deep level of trust that God so desperately wants from us.

We will likely never have to demonstrate the trust of Abraham. Abraham had no way of knowing that  everything would work out for the best when the Lord commanded him to take the life of his son Isaac on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:1-2).  But Abraham trusted in the Lord with all his heart.  Every last bit.  There was no room for doubt.  No second guessing.  He didn’t bring an animal to sacrifice just in case God got it wrong or changed his mind (although God did supply one).  No, he did as God commanded trusting that God’s plan was perfect.  The Lord had promised Abraham that He would establish His covenant with Isaac and his descendants.  And Abraham believed him.  It may not have made any sense to Abraham how that would be accomplished if he killed Isaac.  Yet, Abraham trusted.  He knew God doesn’t lie.

“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.”  (v6).  The word translated “acknowledge” in most bible translations is yada, which generally means “to know or recognize.”  In Proverbs 3:6, it means to know His ways inside and out and to recognize that He has ultimate authority over our lives.  It’s a root word, so it can be translated many different ways and is used almost a thousand times in the Old Testament.  Throughout the rest of the bible, yada is most often translated as some form of “to know,” but other uses include “respect”, “understand”, “be sure in”, and “discern.”  The more we know God.  The more we respect Him.  The more we learn to discern His voice.  The easier it will be to know the path He has planned for you and to trust Him on the journey.

The river is going to flow unless a barrier is placed in its path.  Whether it is a natural dam made by wildlife, rocks that have altered its course, or a person paddling feverishly to get her innertube turned around.  The river will continue to find it’s way.  It will adjust and redirect. 

And, we too, will reach the destination God planned for us before we were born.  The only question is will we go with the flow or will we use control, fear, and doubt to build barriers.  Life isn’t always going to be a lazy float in the river.  I get that.  But I also know that too often I disturb the quiet flow of the river, creating ripples and waves that God never intended for me.  He will carry me through.  But the ride will be a bit bumpier.  And that’s my fault.  But just as the river flows, God’s water of life will always carry me home.

I eventually was able to let go.  To close my eyes and drift on the current.  Trusting it would take me to the exit point.  Feeling the warm sun on my face, the cool water on my feet.  Listening to the sounds of nature and the ripple of water over rocks.  And maybe, just maybe, hearing God say, “See, Rhonda, trust the flow.”

In what ways do you cause ripples in your life that God never intended for you?  Take an honest look at how much you control rather than assist on your journey with God.