The Hand of God

 It is a memory that is etched in the frontal lobe of my mind and will forever haunt my thoughts and dreams. A minute incident, that lasted for what seemed like an hour, causes me to shiver at just the mere reoccurrence of that day in my mind. I've been kayaking more than two decades now with most of my paddling being done on the bountiful river options of East Tennessee. The Nolichucky, French Broad, Clinch, Holston, and Pigeon Rivers have all provided a respite from the hustle and bustle of life. For the most part there hasn't been what I would label as a dangerous situation since most of the paddling has been in either flat water or at the most some small class I or II rapids and current. That all changed when my son, Ethan, and I decided to hit some faster moving water with more technical rapids on the Hiwassee River in Southeast Tennessee near Chattanooga. 

The Hiwassee at that time, was a definite step up from what Ethan and I had been used to paddling. As a matter of fact, this was the first time that we had been required to wear a skirt around the mouth of our kayak to keep the rapids from flooding our boat, and helmets on our heads in case we capsized and while under water engaged rocks or other hazardous obstacles. In particular, the skirt being new to us ended up being a critical component of the issue we encountered. If you aren't familiar with the skirt it is in most cases a black elastic water barrier that the kayaker pulls up around their waist and then after entering the kayak you stretch the deck around the mouth of the boat making for a tight water sealant as you encounter rapids and waves on the river. As we were fitted for our skirt we realized there was really only one thing that stood out making the front different from the rear. There is a small grab loop on the front of the skirt which offers a release from the kayak when you need to exit. Without the grab loop the kayaker is snugly encased in the boat with no other method to exit. 

For the most part we had never needed a guide on a river float, but in this case, with the water moving a great deal faster and the rapids being much more technical it was a must for us to travel with a group and a river guide. After a brief safety and instructional tutorial from our guide we plunged our kayaks into the chilly river depths. It didn't take long for us to begin encountering white water and it was definitely exhilarating. We had been white water rafting numerous times on some of the best rivers around, but being on the same level as the white water made it so much more real. Things were going well and we were definitely enjoying the trip, that is until we came upon our first 2 to 3 foot wall drop resulting in a fairly deep hole. It is important to add that most of our group, including Ethan and I had not mastered the technique of Eskimo Rolling in case you end up capsized which in our case was all but inevitable. I ventured through the rapid soon after the guide and a couple of others passed through before Ethan made his way to the shoot. Ethan made it through the drop and out of the hole adequately, but as he maneuvered the last portion of the run he lost balance and his boat soon capsized. At the moment it created a small chuckle since he was out of the rapid and sat in a bit more tranquil water, but the brevity of the moment soon dissipated when Ethan didn't surface. Time froze, along with my mind. I could not figure out why Ethan had not pulled his grab loop and popped up out of the river's murky water. All I could see was the hull of his kayak and I really didn't know what to do next. I was more than twenty yards down current and any attempt to enter the water would have resulted in me being pulled downstream further away instead of closer. That visual is what makes me shudder, seeing the bottom of a kayak, knowing that your child was on the other side and that he wasn't surfacing made for a horrifying memory that you wouldn't want to relive, ever. At that moment, the guide's kayak darted alongside Ethan's hull and he thrusted his arm down into the water and suddenly the kayak flipped back carrying Ethan up to the surface. Honestly, it felt like a long time to me, but I know he could not have held his breath much longer even though it was probably less than a minute. With Ethan now topwater again and our crew drifting down the main channel, the guide blared out, "Hand of God!" to which Ethan most definitely could relate. Ethan escaped what could have been a tragic whitewater accident and as later revealed he could not have escaped the tragedy without a hand from above reaching down to rescue him from drowning. What we soon found out was that Ethan had inadvertently tucked his grab loop under the skirt deck as he stretched the rand of the skirt around the kayak. He literally had no way to make a wet exit when he capsized his boat. It took the Hand of God technique to save Ethan's life. How many others are even cognate to the fact that they too have experienced the hand of God reaching down to save their lives figuratively or literally? 

The "Hand of God" technique that rescued my son from potentially drowning from underneath his kayak, may be one of the most appropriately named white water rescue techniques ever named, but it is also quite transferable in life as a high school student I shared this story with reminded me. I can't remember why I was actually sharing this particular story, but as I did Nathan commented, "There's a lot of that happening every day." All I could think about for some time after that was how true his comment was. I'm not sure how much at the time Ethan thought about the concept of God's hand reaching down to save him that day, and I'm not so sure any of us, give a great deal of thought to those instances when God has in one way or another reached down to save us from some form of tragic adversity or affliction, but rest assured it happens around the world, and right next door to you every single day. Many times rescue appears to be pure ole "good luck" or possibly a coincidence that the right person was in the right place at the right time. Well, I'm here today not by coincidence and luck has had nothing to do with it at the end of the day. I was saved from my own "life at risk" situations over my sixty plus years of life. Too many to list in my own estimation, but enough to reflect on and to give God the credit for saving me from the situation in which I was drowning. There is no such thing as a coincidence, and luck is just another name for hard work in my opinion. God has a purpose for your life and sometimes He has to reach down and pull you out of the water before you drown. The problem as I see it is you have to be willing to take His hand and allow Him to pull you up. God is in the business of saving, that is why we are about to observe Easter next week. God saw mankind drowning in sin and He thrust down His hand and gave us His only Son Jesus to pull us up out of the depths of our sins. It is our job to take God's offer and hold on to Him and receive the rescue from our sins. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but instead gain everlasting life" John 3:16. God is reaching down for you today!

As we end our time together, I'd like to ask you to read the following scripture from Psalms 18:16-19 and wherever you read pronouns replace them with your own name. The powerful message I received was that God is reaching down for me, personally reaching down to save me from this world and the attacks of evil that exist each day we live and breathe. That day on the Hiwassee River, Ethan grabbed the Hand of God that saved his life. I'm certain God has reached out His hand numerous times beyond that instance in Ethan's life. He has done and continues to do the same for you and I today. Have you grasped the hand of God as He reaches out to save you? If not you can reach out today, His hands are open and He invites you to enter into His peace and presence each and every day. 

Coach Carter

"He reached down from Heaven and rescued me; He drew ________ out of deep waters. He rescued ________ from _____'s powerful enemies, from those who hated _________ and were too strong for __________. They attacked _________ at a moment when ______________ was in distress, but the Lord supported ____________. He led ____________ to a place of safety; he rescued _____________ because He delights in ____________." Psalms 18:16-19

Growing Through What You're Going Through

 Change, that word conjures up varied emotions for men and women, young and old alike. Some talk about changing jobs, others talk about changing habits, while other conversations circle around changing hairstyles or colors, changing the flooring in your house, or any other in a myriad list of trivial "things" we may want to change in our lives. We tend to get a little fidgety though when we start talking about changing our minds. Our mindset is what shapes our day in and day out walk. I'm not talking conservative or liberal viewpoints, and I'm not referencing changing from a sedentary lifestyle to a more active lifestyle. What I am suggesting today is that we must be willing to change our mindset in terms of how we perceive the hardships, struggles, or challenges that we encounter in our walk of life. The more we view ourselves as the victim the less we will be able to see the opportunity to grow through whatever it is that we are going through. 

I had started a completely different topic for today's message, and honestly it just wasn't flowing the way most of my writing sessions go. Now I know why, it wasn't the message to be shared today. This morning as I started my devotional time the verse of the day was Philippians 3:10-11 which reads "I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!" It is important to remember that a majority of Paul's letters to the different churches he wrote while being imprisoned. Wrongfully imprisoned, beaten often, and persecuted as he traveled about sharing the good news of Christ, it is safe to say Paul's life wasn't a bed of roses. Based on what Paul wrote to the Church in Philippi, it doesn't sound like he is crying out for freedom from his wrongful imprisonment, but instead Paul wants to benefit himself by knowing more about the suffering of Christ and then living his life in a manner that allows him to grow through sufferings similar to what Jesus endured here on earth. 

How many of us thank Christ when we are enduring or suffering? Not a lot of virtual hands going up I would presume. Suffering and hardship are not comfortable, as a matter of fact they are both equally uncomfortable. When we pray, do we ask God to remove the sickness and provide answers to our dilemmas, or do we ask God to show us how to grow through the difficult, and challenging instances we are traversing through in our daily lives? That my friend requires a major change in how we think about hardship. Paul's perspective isn't common, that is why it isn't the predominant manner in which the average person perceives the difficulties in their life. At times some people, a large percentage of people, start asking, "What have I done to deserve this to happen in my life?" Instead of being the victim to our circumstances what if we became the beneficiary of those moments or chapters in our life where we actually grow closer to Christ through what we are enduring. Mainly because it isn't easy. In the very next verse of Philippians 3 Paul lets us know that he struggled with this shift in mindset just like anyone else might, "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me." Philippians 3:12.

Other than being the exact message that I myself needed to hear today, I'm not sure why I felt so inclined to change directions in the thought to share today, but I do not feel this message will have to travel far before it lands in the lap of someone that needs to embrace their current circumstances and dig deep to see how they can grow through what they are going through. Doing a little self inspection this morning was all I needed to see that I am guilty of playing the poor me card more often than I would like to admit. I want to be more like Christ, I want to grow in Christ, and if that means I must go through some not so comfortable situations along the way, then so be it. We have no further to look than the example that Paul provided. His choice to focus on the growth through his circumstances was based on the pain and suffering Jesus endured for us to be saved. Over and over again, Paul encouraged the early Christian churches to endure, persevere, and to hold tight to the hope that can only be found in Christ. Through the persecution and pain that Jesus Christ endured on the cross, Paul found strength to share with us that what we will endure here on earth will never compare to the reward we will receive if we do not give up or lose our faith in God, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18. 

The world will tell you to blame someone for anything and everything you go through that isn't comfortable and pleasing. The world will tell you to do whatever it takes to remove the pain and suffering you are experiencing, the "there's a pill for that" mentality. Trusting that things that are not comfortable to us can be good for us isn't an easy mindset to adopt, but if we begin to look for ways to grow through adversity, we may just find that the outcome on the other side will make us a bigger, stronger person. And if we are growing through our adversities, what we are going through suddenly begins to look completely different as we move confidently forward with Christ! Bring it on!

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." II Corinthians 4:16-18. 

Coach Carter