“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16 NKJV
The long weekend provided us opportunity for several different kinds of adventures. Being free meant we could do what ever we wanted. Or not! So when the question, “what do you want to do now,” came up, we had lots of options. Since we hadn’t gone kayaking in a while, we chose to hit the water! It turned out to be quite an adventure.
We’ve kayaked the same water for years and it’s always a beautiful trip. This time, we saw an opening in the mangroves we hadn’t noticed before. A dark hidden spot that the sun hit just right, reveled water beyond the dark entryway. Thinking, “what’s this?” I forced my way under the branches and came out in a large area with a long canal ahead. Katie was right behind me!
We rowed, and sometimes paddled, to get through. Some spots were so overgrown that I had to break branches off to fit through. At one point a few spiders fell into my lap. But they were small. I was glad I was in front to get them because Katie would have screamed! I coached her through and she was right behind me. At one point, it was so tough, I thought she’d stay and wait as I went ahead. A couple minutes later, I heard her come up behind me. I smiled and thought, “tough woman!” But I should have known that!
There’s a difference, in my mind, between rowing and paddling. It doesn’t take a lot of work to row. But when I get into a tough spot, it can take a LOT of PADDLING to get me through. Though I don’t think it the OFFICIAL definition between the terms, it works for me! I’ve been though some tough stuff in life. Times where paddling was really the only way through!
The Word is Jesus. And He has a place He wants me to get to. But getting there takes HIS wisdom, instruction, and sometimes, admonition! That can means hard learning the hard way! You know…like a paddle! But I can tell you, going through under HIS direction ALWAYS leads me safely out… singing.
Where does the Master have YOU gROWing?
