Passing Through the Waters

God is sovereign, but do we believe it? We say He is in control but do we live that way? We say we trust in God but what happens when the bumps and bruises of life come our way? How do we respond? On our most recent trip upriver we had the opportunity to experience some of those bumps and bruises and to see God’s sovereign hand at work.

We left Yurimaguas at 9:00am for a 5-hour trip upriver to Santa Clara to stay for another month. It was mid August, the peak of the dry season and the rivers were very low. The boat was loaded with supplies to live for the month and as usual a few extra passengers. I knew we were in trouble when we hit the first sand bar. As we struggled to get off the sand, I looked back and could still see the port from where we had embarked. I knew then we were in for a long day. The river then makes a big curve and comes back to Yurimaguas before heading north to the town of Munichis and hour away. Because of our overloaded boat and the conditions of the river, we were moving along at a snail’s pace. When we came back into view of Yurimaguas after that first turn Henry asked, “Are we in Munichis?” You can imagine his disappointment when I told him it was still Yurimaguas.  Three hours later we arrived in Munichis. I did the math and figured we had gone only one quarter of the distance we needed to travel. With the deepest water behind us, we headed further upriver where other streams and rivers split off and the river gets smaller and shallower. We struggled on, hitting sand bars and sunken trees.

Lucy tends to be the anxious one in our family, so every sand bar and tree we hit she would jump and cower in fear. Her fear hit a maximum when we had some motor problems.

We brought two motors with us, an outboard 40 horse, and a 13 horse pecky-pecky for shallow water. We planned on using the outboard until we got to the mouth of the Cachiyacu river, where we split off of the main river, and then switch to the pecky-pecky. The water was so low that switched motors a couple of hours early. But quickly we broke two propellers and had an oil leak. As we floated helplessly down the river, trying to change the prop for the second time, Lucy’s fear hit the breaking point. Jennifer and I took a minute to encourage her. We talked about how everything was going to be fine but more importantly we need to trust God. He guards our coming and going. As we pass through the waters he is with us.

He has a plan and He is sovereign. I told her that God has a purpose for this and we need to trust him.

Just at dark we arrived in the town of Varadero. It is normally three hours to Varadero but it had taken us over nine hours. We pulled off for the night. Varadero is a town with electricity, running water, little stores and even cell coverage (but no internet). We got the last two available rooms for rent in the whole town. It cost us $4 per room so you can imagine the conditions. Yet we were thankful for a roof over our heads as we could see lightening in the distance. Then we went to look for food.

We went to the restaurant where we know the owner. The restaurant is nothing more then two picnic tables in a wooden room with three walls and lots of mosquitos. The owner is the wife of a pastor in town. She was not at the restaurant but her daughter was serving the food and as we were eating she told us that her mother was very sick and could use a visit.

After supper we went to her house. She is struggling with gall stones and needs surgery. As we visited, her husband shared that they had just been praying for God to send someone to help. They were really discouraged and struggling because of the sickness. After visiting and praying with them he told us how we were an answer to pray.

As we walked away from the house I looked at Lucy and she just smiled. “God has a plan,” she said. “God wanted us to stay the night here to answer that man’s prayer.” She understood and so did I that God is sovereign and sometimes He throws road blocks at us in order to complete His plan for our lives. Sometimes He needs us to answer someone else’s prayer.

That night it poured. We took off early but when we reached the mouth of the Cachiyacu river we saw quite a sight. The rains had flooded the river and three-foot-tall waves were screaming out of the mouth. Logs and trees floated down the river disappearing and reappearing as they rolled in and out of the waves. We pulled over on a beach and decided it would be best to wait a while as it was too dangerous to continue on. At the beach we could literally see the river rising as it climbed the beach like a tide coming in fast forward. How ironic to go from struggling in too little to waiting because of too much water in just a few hours.  Once again Lucy turned to worry. I just looked at her and said, “Did you learn anything yesterday?”

On the beach another boat had pulled over to wait. I started talking to the man and found out he was a pastor from a distant community. He knew of us and we talked about some mutual friends we have. To get to his community was another complete day by river plus a six hour walk. He invited us to visit and I told him I would love to but maybe we will fly in.

After two hours the river rose even more but the strangest thing happened. As the river rose the waves actually got smaller. We took off again and for three more hours fought the raging current and dodged trees. Finally, we arrived. The 5-hour trip took us a day and half, but God was with us the whole time and He had a plan.

What do we do when life gives us bumps and bruises? How do we respond? Maybe we just need to realize that God is in control. That He is all-powerful. This changes our outlook from frustration to anticipation. Today, lets anticipate. Expect God to move. Expect Him to do something, even if it wrecks our day, even if a 5-hour trip takes 27 hours.

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

And when you pass through rivers,

They will not sweep over you.

Isaiah 43:2