OUTRIGGER CANOES

Outrigger canoe, Maui HI

On Keith and my recent trip to Maui we were thrilled each morning and evening to watch, from our condo, teams on outrigger canoes training in the ocean.  Day in and day out they trained, strengthening their arms as they rowed in synchronized order, cutting through the water until they reached their destination.  Then, still on the ocean, they would rest a bit before turning the canoe around and paddling back the same way they had come.

I grew accustomed to their routine.  But one day, toward the end of our stay, one of the canoe’s teams stopped rowing much earlier than usual, near some flags attached to buoys in the water.  The minute they stopped rowing the canoe slowed down, slowly gliding forward for a short while, until it stopped completely.  Then, I noticed that a current in the ocean began to carry them backwards.  I’d been totally unaware that there had been any current at all when they were rowing against it.  Now that they had stopped, the current was very visible as it carried the canoe backward in its formerly unseen stream.

Not long after they had started drifting with the current the team placed their oars in the water and once again began rowing in unison, although now at a much faster pace.  The outrigger canoe cut through the water quickly, going against the tide that had taken it backward, leaving a noticeable wake behind it, showing all who were watching exactly where it had been.

I wondered to myself if this team was preparing for a race and, if so, how much longer they had to prepare or if, maybe, they were ready now.

Then, as so often happens when I ponder and pray, I thought of how this was a picture of certain times in my life as a Christ-follower.  I work diligently, disciplining myself to follow Him, which very often goes against the current of our culture.  It can be tiring, even draining at times.  I used to not realize how just taking a little break from my prayer time or from reading God’s Word or even from keeping my mind focused on our Lord could impact my forward progress.  I wouldn’t intend to do it for long but taking my eyes off of my goal to be more like Jesus would cause me to slow down and begin, instead, to keep pace with the world around me.  Rather than attracting others to Jesus, I would become more immersed in our culture, going with the flow that would take me further and further from Him.

Oh, how I dislike doing that!  So now, as soon as I get my bearings and sense how much ground I’ve lost, I ask my Teammate, the Captain of my little canoe, to get me moving toward Him once again.  And because He is stronger than anything or anyone, when I yield to Him and allow Him to work again in me, I too leave a noticeable wake behind me that lets everyone watching see exactly where we have been.

Someday I will approach the finish line and my race will be over.

So this “one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13b-14