“God took me through what should’ve taken me out.” Joel Osteen
Flash Floods of Life
My husband, Joey, and I were able to check off a bucket list – Australia.
Joey is our family’s personal travel agent. He’s the planner and loves all the details. Doing research he wanted to go visit every part of Australia but he painstakingly narrowed down this vast, beautiful country to explore to only a few places given the limited time we had to spend there. One place we went was Cairns, pronounced Canes.
Joey, being the adventurer he is, found a hike that led to a waterfall with an opportunity to cliff dive. All the scary parts of nature was there and for the less adventurous one (me) a place to simply enjoy the water as a spectator of such dangerous activity. I do not cliff dive no matter if I’m up only an inch away from the water. Plunging my body into water with gravity at its finest is not my idea of fun.
We hike together, he cliff dives – I watch. We are a perfect pair on the adventures he takes me. That day we enjoyed the water and a cool, natural slide made from the water running down some big rocks. It was busy that day as kids and adults took turns sliding down this smooth boulder into the water. It wasn’t a long slide, just the right size to not look scary, so I tried it -but only if my husband held my hand and we went down it together. Yes, there is a pattern here. I’m a chicken, he’s not.
He and I go down this not so scary looking slide into the water but our hands broke apart and I felt like the gravity took my body way too far down under water for my liking. The water felt so forceful, unlike what I had seen from the others going down and quickly popping their head back up out of the water before me.
Joey and I came up for air laughing. We swam towards the way to go back down the slide for another time but out of the corner of my eye I saw people waving their hands frantically, shouting, trying to get our attention. We couldn’t hear what they were shouting but I had a gut feeling they were telling us to get out of the water. I swam towards them while my husband swam the opposite direction to grab his phone where it was safely on a dry rock. He said he’d meet me over on the other side once he grabbed his phone.
I started swimming towards the people waving us over and what seemed like a nano second, I was headed in the direction of miles of rocky cliffs, with no control over where the forceful water was taking me.
A hand reached out and grabbed me, holding tightly as the water continued to force my body in a direction I didn’t want to go. The water pinned both our bodies to the side of a rock. He was in a safer spot and could have easily gotten out if he let go of my hand. Thankfully, he refused to let go. It took another man to grab onto to the man whose grip was tightly on my hand to help pull us both out of this forceful, rushing water.
My husband and I did not see the flashing light on the edge that warned guests of this beautiful waterfall’s ability to suddenly be overtaken by a flash flood and take anyone in its path. There was not a cloud in this bluebird sky, no drop of rain for the days Joey and I had been in Cairns.
Who would’ve thought to watch for a flash flood??
Isn’t that how life is sometimes though? Out of nowhere a slew of situations comes rushing at you, pinning you to a rock and a hard place. We can either rise up with all we have and grab on to a strong hand to help pull us out or we can get swept away by the sheer force.
My husband was trapped on the other side of this narrow body of water. Had he followed me, he would probably not be here today as the water would have taken his body down the rocky cliff.
Hours later, after he and some other people were rescued, they told us that a handful of people had died recently due to this same sudden flood of waters and not being able to see the warning lights flash.
I sit with terror at the thought of almost losing our life while also, I sit in awe at how God’s mighty hand saved us. It could have taken us out – yet God had other plans.
There have been many circumstances in our life that could have taken us out. Health challenges, financial challenges, relational challenges -just life, really. In those moments of feeling pinned down, not knowing what to do, I reach for a powerful hand – God’s hand to save me, strengthen me, and receive His promise of wisdom, knowledge and understanding for my situation.
What if instead of worry you took a step of faith and chose to renew your mind with the powerful word of God of strength, power, provision?
There are times that I do this all throughout the day because my mind keeps me in a loop of defeated thoughts.
I have to choose to trust what God says about me and what He has given me. I choose to recount the numerous times He has never failed me or my family – the times God made a way when I couldn’t see a way.
I choose to remember the unfailing times God has been faithful. I choose to not allow fear chain me to frustration, worry, anxiety. Instead, I choose to trust.
My encouragement is to let go of fear and grab onto the hand God is giving you. Be diligent in anchoring your thoughts on power words from God. Just keep going. Keep taking the next best step forward, and your path will light up.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control]. -2Timothy 1:7
“For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11