August 18, 2021

The last time I went tubing on the river with the youth it was an absolutely beautiful day – blue skies, white fluffy clouds, warm breezes. Floating along the river, surrounded by trees and wildflowers and the occasional water bird, is such a lovely, relaxing way to spend a day. It makes you feel like you don’t have a care in the world.

I thought about that when I read my scripture this morning:

This is what the Lord, who saves you,
    the Holy One of Israel, says:
“I am the Lordyour God,
    who teaches you to do what is good,
    who leads you in the way you should go.
If you had obeyed me,
    you would have had peace like a full-flowing river.
    Good things would have flowed to you like the waves of the sea.

 – Isaiah 48:17-18(New Century Version)

When you are floating down the river it is so peaceful. You don’t have to paddle, you just sit back and let the current take you. When we listen to God and follow the way God teaches us to go our lives can be peaceful. But when we don’t pay attention to God, when we don’t listen and try to go our own way everything can become full of worry and stress.

So many times, it feels like I try to be in control of everything myself. I “paddle” furiously trying to go the way that I want to go. But when I let go and listen to God – everything becomes so much easier and the current of God’s love and grace moves me ahead in the right way. It is truly peaceful and beautiful – like a day spent floating down a full-flowing river.