For as long as I can remember I have been afraid of water. At our Women’s Retreat a few weeks ago, the topic came up several times during the second session in which we mingled and asked questions that were printed on the inside of our water bottle labels. Because the retreat had a beach getaway theme, there were a lot of questions about water.
During the first Saturday morning session, we sat quietly meditating on the sound of waves, focusing on our retreat verse, Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.” During that meditation time, my thoughts wandered to our upcoming (now past) vacation. We had plans to go to the Redwoods in Northern California, but the Lord brought to my mind the jet boat trips that you can take up the Rogue River out of Gold Beach, Oregon. I tried to set this idea aside because the last time my husband and I took that trip about 18 years ago, I was terrified. I hardly enjoyed it because of the knots in my stomach from fear. But it just kept coming back to me.
So when I got home I suggested to my husband that we do the jet boat trip, and he loved the idea. We just took the 104-mile round trip up the Rogue with our son last Monday, July 4. It was a beautiful sunny day, with not a cloud in the sky. The scenery was awesome. We saw bald eagles, cormorants, osprey, turkey vultures, swallow nests, merganser ducks with ducklings, blue heron, deer, otter, turtles, a sea lion, and lots of dogs riding on rafts or out camping. We also had a terrific boat captain who made the trip extra special.
But the absolutely best thing about the boat ride was that about halfway through I realized I felt no fear at all. I thought of one of my favorite verses.
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV).
The Holy Spirit prompted me to go on this boat ride and He took away my fear of the boat ride. I felt at peace, knowing that I could trust our boat captain, and that I could trust that God would not send me on a trip unless He planned to see me through. The Spirit of power that God has given me defeated the spirit of timidity and fear.