August 2004

Swimmer's Rapids

I hung tightly onto the rope yet still the waves flung me backward into the boat with my feet high in the air, reaching towards heaven. Laughing, my friend, Rebekah, told me I had never looked so good. I hopelessly struggled to get up while the rest of my boat mates, made up of people from the young adult and high school groups from my church, paddled through Swimmer's Rapids on the Deschutes river in eastern Oregon. I had been riding "rodeo" which entails sitting on the front of the raft with your feet dangling over the water and holding onto the rope between your legs while going over the rapids with one arm in the air, yelling "Woohoo!".

Once past the rapid, we landed the raft on a crowded beach and walked back upriver to a stump where people jumped off straight into the rapid to swim down it. Crazy? Probably. Dangerous? Most certainly. I just jumped in without giving myself time for indecision and prayed I would remember the instructions the guides had drilled into us. What I had not counted on was the need to keep my contacts in my eyes so instead of breathing out and in when I was supposed to, I had my eyes closed most of the time, barely breathing, while the water tossed me like a rag doll. After being spit out by the rapids, then swimming to shore, I sat on the edge of the bank in shock, adrenaline rushing through my veins, glad I had reached solid ground. What fun!

The funny thing was that I had been that soaked for most of the day. Our group populated two rafts with a guide in each and we had been tossing buckets of water at each other all throughout the six hour trip down the river. At the beginning, our guides had even given us good pointers on how to get each other spectacularly wet and we did credit to their teaching. Besides such entertaining knowledge, they knew every rapid by heart. Our guide knew precisely where the raft needed to be positioned so we wouldn't tip over and what commands to shout out to get us there. Our job was to listen and to obey her voice when she told us to paddle forward or back, when to turn, and when to stop. If we didn't, we would be getting a much more intimate look at the rocks and the rapids swirling around us.

While paddling the deep waters, it struck me that we need to listen to God in the same way as we were listening to our guide. God is the guide on our raft of life and to arrive safely at eternity, we need to carefully listen to and obey His instructions. Even though the waters are treacherous and we will most definitely get wet, He knows how to bring us safely through to calmer waters. The amazing thing is that He does not stand on the safety of the shore shouting at us and tossing water as one of our guides did, but is with us in the boat, going through the same hardships as we are. He is trustworthy because he has been down the river of life before and knows where all the dangers are lurking underneath the surface and the safe way to bring us past them. We have only to listen to His guidance and obey His words. And if we fall out of the boat, He will be there with an outstretched hand to pull us back in, no matter how long we have been shivering in the cold.

I know if I had been guiding my own raft, I would have been tipped over and wrapped around the sharp rocks numerous times. I am so glad there was someone wiser than I beside me who cared for my safety. Someone who knew the way. God is that person for us, the one who wants to bring us through. Are you listening to Him? Are you obeying Him?

Exodus 15:13 says, "You keep your loving promises and lead the people you have saved. With your strength, you will guide them to your holy place." Such guidance is invaluable and worth an eternity of praise for we will never reach the golden shore without Jesus Christ. Even with good earthly instruction, if we decide to tackle the river alone, we will never be more than a person being thrashed around in the rapids who is desperately trying to breathe. But if we are with God in His boat of free salvation, listening to and obeying His voice, we will be led forth in wisdom and love, not to mention the fun we will have on the way!

In His Service,

Sarah Katreen Hoggatt

News

Within the next few weeks, seventeen of my poems will be hung on the display boards at Jefferson Baptist Church in Jefferson, Oregon

for the congregation to read. It is the first time poetry from both books will be displayed together.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to Rebekah Borah and Chuck Zemanek for helping me put the display together. I am grateful to you both.

Poem

River of Life

Through the swirling waters,

I hear my Father’s voice.

He tells me of His love and grace

And of His eternal choice.

He is the one who guides me

Upon life’s river way,

And He is the one who’s laughter I hear

At the close of every day.

I pray the Lord will teach me

How to obey His grand commands,

As we are rafting through the rapids

Then landing safely on the sands.

Last Updated: 12/30/2011