01/30/2021
When we call upon the Lord in our times of hardship or trouble do we have the faith, trust, and the courage to wait on Him? Can we sit perfectly still in His shadow, like a rabbit frozen beneath a bush as the hounds approach, or does our fear mount within us until we flinch and run, renewing the chase once more? Trusting in God, and His promises, should give us the courage to wait on Him, but is our hope in Him strong enough?
“O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.”
Psalm 131:3 ESV
My father was a great outdoorsman, and at one point the Army Times magazine, snd Washington newspaper, ran a full page articles on him, calling him “The Last Great Guide, and Outfitter”. When I was young I would go with him on amazing outdoor adventures, and was tutored by him in the ways of nature, and how best to hunt, fish, and survive in the outdoors. One day we were surf fishing at the tip of Assateague Island in Virginia. We had driven our four wheel drive vehicle down the beach to the very tip of the island where the water raced back and forth through a narrow pass with the flowing tides; it rushed in and out between the Atlantic Ocean and Chincoteague Bay. I had baited my line as my father had taught me, and cast my bait far into the outgoing tide in hope of catching a large Red Drum fish. My father was fishing several yards away and he shouted to me as we fished the swelling tide.
Suddenly my rod bent down under the weight and strength of a very large fish, and I could hear the excitement in my dad’s voice as my drag sang out, and he shouted instructions to me... “Loosen your drag!”... “Keep your rod tip up!”, and “lean back into him!”
I did everything he told me to do, but he didn’t intercede, and for all my obedience, and trying, I was losing the battle. The fish was powerful and had taken nearly all of my line when my father yelled “tighten your drag all the way down or he is going to spool you!”, which meant that the fish was about to head out to sea with all my line and the battle would be lost. So I did what he shouted and sure enough I started gaining back some line, but as the fish neared the beach he took another amazing run towards the open sea, and with my drag cinched down tight he was dragging me towards the rushing water of the inlet.
Fearfully I shouted out for help, but heard no instructions from my father. I was leaning back at over a 45 degree angle with my legs locked, and my heels buried deep in the sand but this mighty fish continued to drag me ever closer to the dangerous waters. I yelled again and again for my father, but there was no response to my calls. Finally I was at the point where I had to make a choice... I could continue to hold firm to the rod and be pulled into the rushing water, or I could let go and lose my rod to the sea. Still yelling, and reluctant to give up, I held tight for a few seconds longer. I was only a couple of feet from the water’s edge when I felt my father’s arms wrap around my waist, and heard his deep voice tell me “loosen your drag and back up slowly.” Then he reached around me and loosed the drag for me, and walked me back up the beach to safety... with the danger over, my line finally broke and the fight ended. My father had taught me a valuable lesson about fishing, but he had also taught me another more important lesson regarding trusting him.
God teaches us lessons like this. We hear His voice and feel His presence as we learn to believe, until one day we find ourselves struggling against some danger or sin, and suddenly He goes silent. We continue to call out to Him in prayer, and wait on His answer only to hear His continued silence. At last when we are all but spent, and must decide if we trust enough to wait on Him any longer, we must make the decision whether we will let go and give into the struggle, or hope and trust in Him a little longer. In that faithful moment we define our faith and trust in Him, and instantly feel His arms about us. We might lose the struggle against our fish... an illness, death, or some much simpler thing, but we must never lose the battle against the temptation to let go of our faith... in these moments of distress we will hear His voice saying “I have you, now back up into my arms.”
“Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.”
Psalm 33:20 ESV
Sometimes God helps us by conquering whatever trial we have been facing, but quite often we lose the fish, and he shields us against our heartbreak, disappointment, or mourning, but if we hold tight to our faith, and wait on Him in loving trust, we will always find His arms locked about us, and receive His goodness, and blessing from the lesson.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the rushing wind that carries your promises swiftly to me, but thank you more for your silence within which my faith is tended, and my hope in you makes its bed. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who teaches me, and then watches quietly over me as I exercise your lessons. Praised be your name for your warning, and rescue, but glorious are you who teaches me, then watches over me as I cast my line into the sea, and fish for the souls of men from the dangerous shore. Cover me in the blood of Christ, and never let me succumb to the power of the darkness that is in the earth. Illuminate me with the light of Jesus, and hold me tight... never let me slip away or be lost in the depths of sin. Let my soul hear your voice, even when my ears hear only silence, and let my heart pour itself out to you as you wrap me in your arms saying “I am with you!”.
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah”
Psalm 62:5-8 ESV
Rich Forbes