My friend Don is a wonderful family doctor. But some of the greatest moments of his life have been spent, not in a doctor's office, but on the river - preferably a river with some very challenging white water. He's a veteran kayaker and river rafter - with some fascinating tips for us folks who don't have his experience. He told me that, as a teenager, during his first days on the river, he was amazed to see canoes and kayaks just "hanging out" in the middle of these raging rapids. Then he learned the secret of this amazing feat - there are quiet eddies behind some of the big rocks in the rapids. And those canoeists and kayakers had found a place to rest in very turbulent waters - behind a big rock.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fast Current and a Big Rock."
Now it could be that the current on your river has picked up recently. Or maybe you've been in turbulent water for quite a while. The stress of the rapids is taking its toll - and peace and rest for your heart have been pretty hard to find. You need to find the quiet place, the safe place you've been looking for your whole life. You need to get behind the Big Rock.
Our word for today from the Word of God begins in Psalm 62. "My soul finds rest (that sounds good, doesn't it?) in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress, I will never be shaken...He is my mighty rock, my refuge" (Psalm 62:1, 2, 6). David, the king who wrote this psalm, says he has found a rock in the rapids of his life...and it's not a therapist or a religion or anyone on earth. The Rock where a turbulent heart finds peace is in a love relationship with an unshakable God. The things that are beyond our control are under His control.
It's this kind of personal peace that Jesus invites us to when He says, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) According to the Bible, peace is a person. You finally find peace when you find Jesus. He takes those who belong to Him and He shelters them with His very personal love and unlimited power.
If there's been no peace for you in the raging current, it may mean that you've let the strong current pull you away from your rock of refuge. The pull and the pressure have caused you to neglect your time near your Rock. But it may be there's no peace in your heart because you've never taken shelter in that personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
The current of life actually pulls us away from the God whose love we were made for. We are stubbornly trying to navigate the rapids by ourselves, actually defying God's control, insisting on our control of the life He made. The name of our defiance is sin. The price of our defiance is the eternal death penalty that sin carries. And whether we know it or not, we are moving inexorably toward this deadly waterfall of the judgment of God...unless we take shelter behind the Rock...unless we place our heart and our life in the hands of Jesus, the one who died for the sin that keeps us from God.
You've battled this current long enough...and you're too close to the waterfall. Isn't it time to finally rest behind Jesus the Rock - in a love relationship with Him. That relationship begins when you tell Him that the self-rule of your life is over...that you are humbly putting all your trust in Him because He died for you. The peace of that relationship could finally come into your heart today. If you're not sure you belong to Jesus Christ, and you'd like to make sure, visit YoursForLife.net.
The best place to finally rest in a fast current is behind a big rock. For you, that Rock is Jesus Christ. Let the struggle end. Let the peace begin.