Have you ever gone river rafting? Have you ever fallen out?
Well, if you have not, there are two things your instructor will tell you
before you get it: First, when you fall out, use your arms to turn yourself
until you face downstream and then pull your arms in to the life vest, lean
back, bend your knees a little to absorb hits from rocks and enjoy the ride. Second,
if you find yourself under water, stop trying to swim, relax and then your life
vest can work…eventually, you will pop back up to the surface.
I have to say
that I have had the opportunity to test both of these pieces of advice – one time
I even found myself ‘swimming to the surface’ when my hands felt rocks in every
direction. With the water swirling around me, I had no idea which way to go. Then I heard clear as a bell, in my
instructor’s voice, “Stop swimming, you will float to the surface.” I stopped
and though I don’t remember much after that, I do remember popping out of the
water as my life preserver in fact did its job. Another time, on the Colorado
River, in a series of class four and five rapids, I was tossed clear out,
behind our raft. I was being thrown about and banging into rocks. Pulling my
legs in was more instinct but then facing down stream and leaning back were
only because I had been told to do so. After plummeting over a little rock fall
and cruising downstream for a couple minutes, I was oriented enough to swim, in
the current, toward our raft and soon felt the strange and awesome feeling of
being yanked out of the water by my life vest and back into the boat.
So, keeping this in mind and remembering that I live in
California where wildfires are an ever present reality (particularly for us as
one side of our land is backed up to the BLM land), I was reading Isaiah 43 (about not drowning or being burned in the fire) the
other morning and decided that if I could write my own paraphrase, or I guess just how God read that to me, it would
read something like this:
(God speaking) Do not be afraid, Becky. I have called you by name. You are mine. No
one and no thing can take you from me. I can crush any enemy. Remember how big
and strong I am. When you feel like life is going to drown you and there is no
way you can ever get out, I am there with you. I will be your life preserver. When you think
you will drown, just hold on and we will float to the surface.
When the waters
rush around you like a mighty river, forcing you down rapid after rapid, don’t
forget, I’m your life vest. I’m so much a part of you that you can’t get rid of
me. We will float through the rapids together. Don’t let the splashes of the rapids
as they hit you in the face send you into a panic. There is always an end to
the torrent. The river will widen and life will slow down. In the meantime,
draw your hands in close and keep your knees tucked in. There will be bumps and
you will have bruises, but it won’t be quite so violent and the chaos won’t
scare you quite so much if you just lean back into Me a little bit. I’m here to see you through it.
When you look out and see a wall of fire coming your way, be
at peace because you know that you will not be burned up. I will not allow it. Though
the flames come through your land and through your house and straight through
all that you own, the flames will not consume you. Though I burn the chaff from
a spot a micrometer from your heart, you will remain. I will protect you. Like the
bush before Moses, the flames, though all around you, will not consume you. Not
only that, remember that I will return to you one hundred fold all that you
have lost and give you eternal life to boot!
At your worst moment, when you are completely surrounded by
enemies on every side…there…there you will find nothing but Me. All else will
have been destroyed, burned by the fire or swept away in the water, but Me, I
will still be there. I always stand. And I will always stand with you. For I am
the Lord, your God, the Holy One, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all
of Egypt and my one and only Son. That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the
whole world to get you back, trade creation just for you! So don’t be afraid. I
am with you. I am the God of Angel Armies. I never run from a fight and I will
certainly never run from you. I will always be by your side. So don’t be
afraid. How many more ways can I say it? I’ll say it a thousand times if that’s
what it takes. I’m never letting go of you. Don’t be afraid, my beautiful child
whom I love with all my heart. Dada is here.
