Many people love tubing, kayaking, and even canoeing rivers. One weekend not long ago, I went camping along my favorite river, with the intent of sitting back and relaxing on the river for a weekend. Yet, I found myself as busy as ever, cooking and cleaning up the site and not taking time to relax.
The river provides immense opportunities for whoever will partake of the waters. At some point, I decided to go tubing, but in my typical Type A Personality fashion checked my phone and decided it would need to be a quick trip before I started lunch. I hopped into the tube and headed down the river. Much to my dismay, I encountered obstacle after obstacle, some above the surface and some below. My journey time downriver was double what I planned, as I was forced to slow down and follow the course of the river.
Admittedly, I was slightly anxious about lunch being delayed. As I disembarked and made my way back to my site, it occurred to me that the river obstacles were protective, forcing me to slow down and live at a slower pace as well as observe the details of the river. Was anyone really going to starve if I didn’t put lunch on the table at a certain time? (The truth was, no one cared but me.)
How many times do we hurry through our days and seasons of life, frustrated when obstacles get in the way of our plans and timelines? We would do well to tune in to the ways of the living water (the Living God) and realize that sometimes He places obstacles in our path for our protection, allowing us time to rest.
Mark 6:31-32 (NIV) “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.”
Prayer: Lord, may I recognize the obstacles you place before me are for my protection, to allow me to slow down and attend to myself and my time with you first.
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