Bible Study Verses
Matthew 14: 29-30 "Come," He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" (NIV)
Thoughts
Our trip had gotten shut down backpacking in Pukaskwa because of a brutal 3 day wind/thunderstorm. After a couple days of not having contact with the outside world, we were finally able to call with a satellite phone of our charter boat captain who was supposed to be picking us up along the trail.
After being hung up himself with the high winds and waves at Michipicoten Island, he figured he could pick us up the next day. He would have to alter his course and pick us up further along the trail than anticipated, because we simply didn't get down the trail as far as we had wanted. The winds were supposed to die down overnight to 3 to 4 foot waves, which was a vast improvement over the 10 to 12 foot waves we had been experiencing.
We packed up our things the next morning and headed to our prearranged meeting point with our charter boat. As we looked across the bay, the waves were better than they had been, but they certainly didn't look like 3 to 4 footers. The captain had selected a sheltered little spot out of the wind to land and load us up. We were elated to see him and glad to get headed back to the ranger station where our vehicle was located.
The captain told us it was going to be a rough ride and take about 3 hours to get back. The relatively smooth ride we had hoped for out of this storm was not meant to be. We loaded our gear and literally battened down the hatches. As we left the bay, the waves grew larger and larger, leaving my wife hanging off the side of the boat experiencing a rough case of sea-sickness. The waves still ranged from about 6 to 10 foot waves.
As we found ourselves in the trough of the waves, we literally were looking up at the tip of the wave that was overlooking our boat. The captain was amazing in his navigation of the waves. We would ride on top of a wave as long as we could, dart down the back side and up as quickly as possible to the next wave - where we would ride the tip of that one as long as possible. We kept this pattern up for a couple of hours until we safely reached the safe harbor where the ranger station was located. Basically, we surfed these huge waves for two hours (which was ahead of what we were told) . . . it was rough!
Action Point
I've been talking to you about adversity, surviving, and storms for the past couple of days. This Pukaskwa trip was obviously a memorable one for us. We had a lot to deal with, but the Lord provided for us along the way as we needed it.
Step by step, He created a way for us when we didn't always know what that way was. I would like to be able to tell you that after the storm was over that we left on a lake that was absolutely calm with the sunrise glimmering off the lake. But, that wasn't the reality of what happened. In order for us to get back to the ranger station, we still had to choose to step out into rough unsettled waves and put our trust in a captain that we fully did not know. It was scary!
Given the choice, we would have preferred to stay right where we were and just wait the entire storm out until it was all calm - cocooned up in safety if you will. We didn't have a choice.
If you are trying to survive yourself right now, and you are sitting in the middle of a storm that you don't know when it's going to end, I can't tell you to simply wait it out until everything calms down. What I can say is: pray a lot, and step out to handle your life's adversity as the Lord leads you. The waves may still be rolling, and you very well might feel sick about having to be where you are, but if you are confident in your Captain, He'll get you through it and to where you need to be.
Sportsmen's Tip of the Day
Make sure to equip your med kit with supplies that will match your specific needs for your adventures. It would have been nice to have something to help out with motion sickness while we were out on the waves.
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