The cool thing about rafting the Nile is that I’m rafting on
the same river that God used in the bible. It was just awesome to be able to
place Bible stories on the same river I was on; granted I was in Uganda not
Egypt but still.
Exodus 2: 1-4
Exodus 7: 14-21
The thing that resonated with me the most was that I learned
to trust God that day rafting just as these stories were about trusting God:
1.
Moses’ mother trusted that nothing bad would happen to her baby
2.
Moses was trusting in God to turn water into blood
At many times during my rafting journey I was trusting God
to save me (literally). See, I’ve been rafting before and flipped or been
thrown out of a raft before. However, I have never rafted class 5 rapids nor
have I flipped repeatedly or been stuck under the water for so long before.
The first rapid was awesome. We walked around the part that
was a class 6 and rafted the 5. We didn’t flip and it was such a thrill;
however we did flip twice and early in the rapids. I got stuck under the raft
and as I was pushing if off me I was repeatedly battered by the waves of the
rapid and couldn’t get from under it. I held my breath as long as possible but
gasped before reaching air and took in a lot of water. At the same time my life
vest did not stay on properly and started pushing my head under water which
only made me take in more water! After the second flip, which was the fourth
rapid, I was done and ready to call it a day. We headed to lunch and all
through lunch I continually coughed up water and even had it running out my
nose since I had taken in so much.
After lunch I decided to keep rafting. Yes, I
know, I’ll say it for you, stubborn! Well, the very first rapid was the calmest
rapid we had hit all day but I was so scared that all I could think of was
getting in the raft and not flipping instead of paddling through the rapid.
After I realized I was possibly a hindrance to my team I decided to join the “chicken”
raft AKA the safety raft. I quickly learned this raft was the easiest to tip!
(Just great! The one the I didn’t want to do!) However the driver of the raft
rarely has tipped the raft which was comforting to know. We hit the first rapid
and honestly, I thought we were going over. I literally had tipped at a 90
degree angle and I had gone into the rapid backwards so I couldn’t see what was
going on or where I was at. The entire time I kept saying, “Jesus, I trust you.
I trust you not to let me tip. I trust you, I trust you, I trust you.” All of a sudden, I peace came over me and I
knew I would be okay. The feeling was so strong that I actually began crying
and praising God. He heard me! He saved me! He didn’t allow me to tip! I
learned in that moment I CAN trust him. Like I’ve known this but its different
now. I mean, I could have literally died. Rapids are no joke but God delivered
me. He heard me and answered me and taught me to trust him.
