But they were not able to recognize who He was. Luke 24:16
During my growing up years, we spent almost every weekend (weather permitting) on Lake Seminole. Our family, along with some cousins and friends, swam, skied and hung out there pretty regularly. We picnicked and even went so far as to camp out one weekend!
Our Daddy dealt with four ladies under his roof, and although we were pretty good at cooking and cleaning, we left it up to him to handle everything concerning our ski boat! There have been lots of times when the motor would give out in the middle of the lake and Daddy would paddle us all to shore. The rest of us were not quite as adept, and we usually ended up making the work harder for him rather than better!
Flash forward years later when Randy and I made a trip to Montana to visit friends, and one of the activities of the day was kayaking. Randy grew up paddling his small boat all over it the lake in front of his house as part of his boyhood, and he was good at it. When our friends brought out the kayak and handed us the paddles, Randy looked at me and said, “Can you paddle?” My answer was, “Of course”. The lake ended up being huge, and the current working against us in the middle of it was strong.
I was paddling along in what I thought was perfect tandem, when I noticed that we weren’t making much progress. It was about that moment when Randy turned to me and said, “Put the paddle down! You are paddling against me.” I put the paddle down, relaxed in the kayak, and enjoyed the scenery while he paddled. When we reached shore, he looked at me and said, “Just so you know, you can’t paddle! You are so lucky I was in there with you.”
Although I wanted to help paddle, my way wasn’t working. I needed someone with experience in the boat with me. This is so like the way we operate with God. We want to do it ourselves, and even though many times our way isn’t working, we don’t want to give up the paddle.
In order to navigate this life, we need to humble ourselves before God and put the paddle (control) down. We have to admit our way isn’t working. and let Him take the paddles. There are a few reasons that we don’t like to put the paddle down. I think our pride, our stubbornness, and our fear are three of the biggest obstacles to putting down the paddle.
Pride can keep us from putting the paddle down because we don’t want anybody to know that we can’t handle our situations by ourselves. It’s important that we seem self sufficient.
Stubbornness can be a part of our problem in putting the paddle down. We don’t want to change the way we do things. We are simply not willing to trust God with the paddles.
Sometimes we are afraid to give up the paddles. What if that doesn’t work? What if God doesn’t paddle where I want to go? Fear is our constant companion, and we are afraid to give God a chance to make it better.
It’s easy to lose perspective in the middle of life’s problems especially in a year like the past one. Two of Christ’s own disciples had that experience on the Emmaus Road. They were discouraged about Jesus’ death and going over all the things that had happened when Jesus came up and walked along with them. They were not able to recognize him because they couldn’t put the paddle down. They wanted to be in control. The very one whose death they were mourning was alive, but their focus was on the wrong thing. Everything changed when Jesus revealed himself to them, and within the hour, they were on their way back to Jerusalem to tell others how they had recognized Him, and that He was alive.
During the next few weeks of Lent, we could all benefit from inviting Christ to paddle our boat and just relax and enjoy the beauty and blessings all around us while we celebrate the fact that He is alive!
George Mueller says; “God has never failed me. Even in my greatest difficulties, heaviest trials, and deepest poverty and need. Because I was enabled by God’s grace to trust Him, He has always come to my aid. I delight in speaking well of His name.”