“When I yell, ‘Stop paddling!’ you need to stop paddling. When I yell, ‘Get low!” you need to crouch down in the boat. When I yell, “Hold on!’ you need to grab onto the life lines in the boat.”
Simple. I can do that. This is going to be awesome…
And with that we began our white-water rafting adventure on the Rio Toro through the heart of Costa Rican rainforests. Anne, David, Benjamin, and I were all very excited about this adventure. Well, all the MacLean men were excited. Anne was not, but she was willing to give it a shot for the sake of the family.
We had a small raft: the four of us and 2 guides. The guides were steering, we were paddling. David and I were at the front sitting up on the sides of the raft, with Benjamin and Anne behind us, and the guides at the stern.
The water was exhilarating. It was invigorating. These boiling, churning waters were taking us outside our comfort zone into new realms of adrenalized living. What a rush!
Our adventure turned into a little more of an adventure than we bargained for. The rapids seemed to be getting larger and larger. As we headed into one particularly large rapid, our guide shouted out, “Stop paddling!”. I couldn’t hear him, so I kept attacking the river with vigorous strokes. “Get low!” he yelled. I kept paddling oblivious to his instructions. “Hold on!” he finally commanded us…
That’s when I was catapulted out of the boat. Well, not totally out of the boat. My legs got caught under a safety line so I was on my back in the water, with my legs over the side of the raft in the boat, as I was being dragged through the rapids. Thankfully David came over to my rescue and pulled me back into the boat.
Anne was horrified. However, not nearly as horrified as she would be in the next rapid. This rapid catapulted both David and I over the side of the boat – again with our legs trapped in the boat so we were being dragged down the river. Anne and Benjamin both came to my aid, which almost flipped the raft over completely. Working with stealthy strategy they were able to haul both David and I back into the boat.
That’s when we realized our guides were gone.
Before we knew it, they popped back into the boat exclaiming, “Whew, that was a big one!”
What we experienced that day was the awesome power of a river. There seemed to be no end to the water. It kept flowing and flowing and flowing. It easily swept us up into an exhilifying adventure far greater than ourselves.
The life of the Rio Toro was contagious. We felt alive in a way we never would have otherwise.
I recalled this adventure when I spoke recently with a sister in Christ. She was MCing our global leadership conference. Her prayer was that the life of Christ would flow through her when she was on stage.
As I prayed for her I remembered what Jesus promised us. He said we have rivers of life flowing inside us. He promised we have springs of living water nourishing our soul. He promised that His life, the presence of the Holy Spirit, is in us – like a river.
I believe the rivers of life Jesus promised us have no limitations. There is always more of His life, His Spirit, He has for us. I believe we need to thank Him we have His river of life – His spring of living water – inside us, and ask Him to keep filling us up to overflowing with His Spirit.
Sometimes those rivers of life will sweep us up into adventure. Sometimes the waters of life will soothe our thirsty soul. Other times the spring of life will bring peace, calm and life.
Let’s drink deeply of His waters of life inside us, and pray my friend’s prayer, “Lord, thank you for your living water inside me. Please flow through me to those around me!”
Yes, we have rivers of living water inside us – let it flow Lord!
John 7:38
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
John 4:14
“but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Isaiah 58:11
“The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”
Psalm 1:1-3
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.”