The Crossing...

When I was a youth, my parents leased a lot by a river in Arkansas called Spring River. At that time it wasn’t too commercialized, so during the early part of the summer we had that part of the river to ourselves. We would fish, swim and canoe all over the place and, of course, it was an awesome place for someone my age to have a great time with no “electronic fun” needed. The fun was there.

Since it was a river with a pretty good current, most of our canoeing was done in the area around the lot because it was so hard to make your way upstream. But every vacation we would take the hour long trek to canoe against the river upstream to a group of water falls. We would stay close to the bank, out of the main current, and paddle for a while, rest and then paddle some more. This particular time I went by myself and actually made good time getting to the falls. When I got there I tied up the canoe to a tree and swam out to the falls.

After swimming for a little while I noticed the bank on the other side, and remembered it was the place we never ventured to because you had to “walk the falls” to get to it. Walking the falls could mean slipping and plunging some fifteen feet into the rocks below. This particular time curiosity got the best of me and I climbed up on the falls and began to walk across. It didn’t take long for me to see that I was in a very tough current with water pushing my feet off the rocks and my balance compromised with every step. As I continued forward, I hadn’t noticed that I had made so much progress, that I was actually closer to the other side than the one I had left. I looked around and thought to myself, “What do I do now?” Fear grabbed me at that point and after gathering myself, I decided to go on.

I finally made it to the other side and looked back at what I had just crossed and shuddered, realizing what could have happened if I fell. But I also felt a great amount of satisfaction, knowing I had faced an obstacle and went through it. This was my Crossing. A crossing that seemed almost impossible, but with just a little faith became a reality. The Crossing for me made it possible to make many more crossings in the days ahead, and helped develop a life of faith in many other areas of my life. I will never forget The Crossing.

Our journey in life will have many such crossings. We will look at some and walk away because we just don’t believe we can do it. We will attempt some, and fail, and get back up to try again. The crossings we do make will help us develop a system of belief that will undergird our life choices in the future. Whatever the “Crossing”, at least make the effort! God is right here with us as we attempt to make crossing after crossing in our walk of faith. There are always obstacles in front and behind, and sometimes treacherous areas all around, but don’t let that keep you from crossing. The person who crosses will always see what others only dream about, and that faith makes the crossing worth it. Is today your Red Sea experience? Are you going to cross? Decide!

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren