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We can't be out of place
I love the outdoors. Many times over, the challenges I’ve experienced out in nature have shown the necessity of my absolute reliance on God; and through the application of my Christian Science studies, absolute proof of God’s loving care for His children.
My buddies and I used to take an annual canoe and kayak trip down a Northern California river. I’d ride in a kayak and my two friends would take the canoe. We’d camp out on a sandbar each night as our trip progressed.
One year we decided to extend the trip and launched our boats farther upstream. The idea was to explore new waters.
We had a full day basking in the sun and taking in the pristine beauty of late summer on the river. As the sun started to set and then disappear, we still hadn’t found a place to camp. Unfortunately, there was no moon, and we realized that because of an incident that morning, our flashlights were somewhere upstream at the bottom of the river.
Visibility was zero, and as we moved forward, the sound of rapids grew louder. The closer we got, the more the anxiety grew between my two companions. Once the rapids were upon us, my friends started panicking—screaming obscenities at each other and crying out in terror from the doom that was sure to happen.
Keep in mind these were two grown men who understand that paddling a canoe requires teamwork. Their struggles and fear were so palpable that it started to get to me.
In that moment I reached out to God, knowing that we were not alone, there on the water.
The answer to my mental plea, “God, what do I need to do here?” came quickly. The thought came to me to dismount the kayak and test the river bottom—not something I would ever have considered, because it was risky. However, that was the clear impulse that came to my appeal or prayer, so I was obedient.
To my shock, as I slid out of the kayak, I realized that we were floating in ankle-deep water! I began to laugh, but my friends didn’t find it as funny.
The best part was that we were right alongside the island that we were hoping to reach to make camp. If I hadn’t listened and checked the status of the water depth, we would have continued on, missed the island, and gone into a layer of snags and deeper water.
There was an answer, regardless of the paralysis of fear conspiring with the blinded senses and threatening roar of the rapids—we were exactly where we needed to be. Right where we are, God is, too—we can’t be out of place.
—Rick Mannerino, San Diego, California, US