Up the Creek Without a Paddle

Up the Creek Without a Paddle

You have probably heard that expression before. It simply means things are out of control and we are going with the current.

My family and I rented a pontoon in Michigan with other family members and sure enough the boat died on us in the middle of the lake. We tried and tried but could not get it started again. We were resolved to paddle back, so we looked for the paddles. It is hard enough to paddle a pontoon boat with regular sized paddles but the only paddle available was cut in half and looked like it was used to mix concrete. We weren’t exactly up the creek without a paddle but we were pretty close. Needless to say, it turned out to be a long day on the water but we all made it home in one piece.

Sometimes life can get that way and before you know it you live by the dictates of everything around you rather than the leadership of God. Let me give you some emergency protocol when you are in this situation.

  1. Call for help– God is available and wants to help you. Call unto me and I will answer thee and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not– Jeremiah 33:3
  • The first thing we did was call for help. He didn’t answer the first or second time but we kept calling and finally got through.

 

  1. Use your time productively– Think about projects or situations that are priority and take care of them first. Write it down and plan time to take care of them. Ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established-Proverbs 4:26
  • This at least gives you a paddle to help get some things back into your control. If you won’t do this than don’t complain if you remain on dead water or get caught in a deadly current. While we waited we used our time to fellowship and fish. We also gave everybody something to do.
  1. Don’t panic– your complaints will not help the situation but they may make it worse. To panic means that you don’t believe there is help and this feeling can be contagious. Stay busy and stay positive God is at work and he knows exactly where you are. When things got out of control on the ship Paul was sailing in, he was able to say, …be of good cheer: for I believe God…Acts 27:25
  • More than once we had to calm down the kids and make light of the situation until help arrived.

God is always available!


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