Not too long ago our high school ministry embarked on a spiritual trip down to Lake Powell in Utah. Our goal setting out was to find some solace within the confines of the lake. With the high rock walls surrounding us, it was our desire as leaders to see students connect, apart from technology, with the creator himself and with his creation. Not to spoil the ending, but if you know anything about youth ministry you'll know that very seldom do things go according to plan. This trip was no different, but it was exactly what God wanted.
Upon arrival at the marina, we rented our houseboats, loaded them up (four of them) and began shuttling the rest of the students to the cove by speed boat (you can only travel with twelve people on a houseboat - four houseboats = 48 people...and we had 85 people total on the trip). I was the last boat out of the marina but soon caught up to the boat in front as for some reason it was a bit slower. Here's where the story gets interesting. Not five minutes out of the marina one my leaders sat up front to relax. He's a big guy, all muscle, probably 220. There he sat with his straw cowboy hat over his eyes, like he was reliving an old Eastwood movie. Soon a gust of wind took his hat off his head and into the lake (it was an extremely windy day). I quickly stopped all motors to see if we could by chance grab it beside the boat, but my leader had another idea: jump in after it. He did it almost instinctively. It was his favorite hat. No one wants to part with their favorite hat! Here's the problem....he jumped in without a life jacket....into a quick current lake. You see at the time it seemed natural, even necessary, but despite how strong he is, and how much muscle he has, it doesn't do him a lot of good in the water. He misjudged the direness of the situation, dove into something that was beyond his capabilities, and quickly he realized the mistake he had made. After several minutes of swimming he got the hat and began to swim back, but by that time he was making little progress against the current. With the motors off the boat was drifting quickly too, and every second we seemed to get further and further apart. He had assumed that the boat would stay stationary, but it doesn't. It drifts. You can't drive too close or he might get pulled into the propellers. You can shut the motor off because then you drift. I watched him swim in desperation. His sister and I called out three times "Do you need help?" No reply each time. Finally I saw him spit some water from his mouth, and I realized that if we didn't do something quickly we'd lose something much more valuable than a hat. At that moment my heart was racing. I felt the panic set in. I sprinted to the bow of the boat desperate for a lifejacket, found two, and ran to the back. I tore off the shirt I was wearing (which was a gift from my fiance), threw off my oaks (for all i knew into the water), left my watch on, and without thinking my iphone in my pocket, and I in one bound I leaped from the railing like a bullet into the water. I don't think I've ever swam that fast in my life, let alone against the current. God was propelling me. Safety was my goal. Rescuing was the need.
At that point my leader was simply trying to stay afloat. Laying on his back, and keeping himself buoyant. He reminisced afterwards that he recalled thinking "this could be it..." until he heard me coming with an extra life jacket.
You see, the theme of our Houseboat trip was Rescue Me, and my leader needed rescuing. I'm not putting myself on a pedestal here, because I have no doubt that he would have done the exact same thing for me. The point is though that when we see someone in dire need of rescuing, we don't take the time to think about what we might lose in the process. I didn't take my time to do a checklist. "Let's see here...shirt off...check. Umm, phone of out my pocket...oh crap! good thing I took my time!!!" I didn't have time to think about those things. I just jumped in and swam as fast as I could. Who knows how much longer he could have kept it up? Muscle sinks quick, and despite how buoyant our bodies can be eventually we can't keep it any longer against the current and waves.
I think that this is sometimes what happens in our daily lives. We think something in life is important, we jump in after it, and before we know it, we find ourselves tired and drifting, further away from the safety of where we started. You see, if don't keep ourselves rooted in God's truth, or on the safety of the boat to keep the metaphor going, we find ourselves guided by our feelings. We "feel" like we want this, or we that we want that, but never to consider whether or not it's actually worth pursuing? Was his hat worth pursuing? Despite that it was his favorite hat? It's a hard thing to consider. What are you pursuing right now that is leaving you tired and drifting?
I'm reminded of Isaiah 53:6a which says "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way..." We have all taken side trips, guided by our feelings rather than God's truth, that end us up tired and drifting. And we wonder why we feel far from God? But the good news is this. Isaiah 53:6b says "and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
I think there are a lot of people right now who could hear this message. We need rescue from ourselves. We need rescuing period. The gospel isn't a thing that happens once. Surely once we trust that Christ is the only forgiveness of sins we are saved, but more than that, it's something that we need to continually remind ourselves of daily. How many of us have woken up stressed, tired, drifting, only to say "why should this be? i've already trusted Christ?" We need to continually trust Christ, daily, reteaching and relearning the gospel on a daily basis. So if you're tired and drifting, come back to Christ. Come back to the cross. Come back to the resurrection life.
