BLOOD TRAIL: RAFTING THE GAULEY

Sunday, February 20, 2011

RAFTING THE GAULEY

Back in September of “08” I was blessed with the opportunity to take my adult children with me to go whitewater rafting on the Gauley River in West Virginia. Rafting the Gauley is a seasonal opportunity. Each fall the Corp of Engineers draws down the water stored behind the Summersville Dam to winter levels. The release of water results in the formation of the best whitewater river in the eastern United States. The Gauley is ranked among the top ten rivers for rafting in the world.

On our trip we were fortunate to be assigned a smaller five person high adventure raft. We were assigned an experienced guide named Liz. The main guide “Kip” took the larger nine person raft. A third guide brought another group of the Outfitter’s in-store employees. They had never been on the Gauley before. On our second rapid of the day, a fairly easy class 3, we came to a “surfing hole”. There are places in the Gauley River and other whitewater where the water is churned up to such a degree that it gives the illusion, once you are caught in it, that your craft is floating on a cloud. Kip took his big raft expertly around the hole turned the raft and had all on board paddle hard back upstream to get into it. Once there they sat, literally floating on station, while the river rushed past on both sides. As we approached, Kip was trying to get his raft free so we could pull up into it. He was stuck (1Tim 6:9). That big ol’ raft just wouldn’t come out. We had to go on around and along with the third raft in our group we pulled up in to a calm area along the side of the river. The big raft was still stuck. It wasn’t wedged on a rock or anything. It was just being held by the circumstance of the river. The promise of an easy thrill had lured nine people into a trap that the river had decided to set that day. (If we had left them they could have been stuck there until the engineers stopped the water release at the dam that evening) But our guide, being the responsible and compassionate person she is stopped to effect a rescue. Now here watch and see a picture of grace and faith in action. Liz grabbed a throw bag. (A throw bag is a weighted canvass bag in which rope is loosely piled so when it is thrown the line plays out smoothly behind it.) Liz had my son in law get out onto the rocks to tend our raft. She then took the guide from the third group and one of the outfitters employees and walked upstream on the rocks to a level area where she could safely throw the line to Kip’s boat. She stood nearest the river with the bag the other guide and the employee lined up directly behind her each one grasping tightly the vest of the person ahead forming a human anchor. Watch as Liz tosses the bag through the air toward the trapped boat the line playing out behind it (Heb 2:9). Watch as hands in the big raft reach out in faith to grasp the grace and mercy represented by the life line (2Tim 2:25-26). We also have to realize here that some very important things had to happen before mercy could be extended and subsequently appropriated by faith. Kip had to realize his raft was in trouble (Luke 15:17-21 & 18:13-14) and couldn’t get out by himself and he had to ask for help (Acts 2:21).

This is our aim in evangelism, to bring people to this point. It is not something they can appropriate for themselves. It is not something that we can do for them. Before grace is offered it cannot be appropriated by faith.

In “All of Grace” Charles Spurgeon explains it this way:

”Faith which receives Christ is as simple an act as when your child receives an apple from you, because you hold it out and promise to give him the apple if he comes for it. The belief and the receiving relate only to an apple; but they make up precisely the same act as the faith which deals with eternal salvation. What the child’s hand is to the apple, that your faith is to the perfect salvation of Christ. The child’s hand does not make the apple, nor improve the apple, nor deserve the apple; it only takes it; and faith is chosen by God to be the receiver of salvation, because it does not pretend to create salvation, nor to help in it, but it is content humbly to receive it. “Faith is the tongue that begs pardon, the hand which receives it, and the eye which sees it; but it is not the price which buys it.” Faith never makes herself her own plea, she rests all her argument upon the blood of Christ. She becomes a good servant to bring the riches of the Lord Jesus to the soul, because she acknowledges whence she drew them, and owns that grace alone entrusted her with them.”

G.E.Hodges

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BLOOD TRAIL

Hunting is a great pastime activity. In today’s world, with a few exceptions hunting isn't among the skill sets necessary to acquire our food and clothing. We are accustomed to 40 hour work weeks and the availability of less labor intensive hunting areas such as Walmart, Krogers and Sears. It’s much easier to work a job and then spend your money at a department store than to invest many hours studying, patterning, hunting, killing and preparing wild game for a few pounds of meat ,a hide and a set of horns. To those who don’t hunt it may look like a huge waste of time. Those of us who hunt know the benefit of the activity. It’s outdoors, usually solitary, relaxing, and requires preparation, diligence and discipline. (Kinda like a job) For those of us who hunt the rewards of relaxation and enjoyment outweigh, for the most part, all the hard work involved. One of the most important skills you can learn is blood trailing. In the daylight it is a relatively straightforward task after you find the first drop of blood. Each drop tells us something new. It can tell us weather the animal is moving or standing, If it’s moving which direction and how fast. It can tell us weather we should pursue quickly or allow it to rest. At times we can tell where the animal is wounded. There is certainly a good amount of satisfaction in the work, but probably the most rewarding part of the hunt is the stories we can tell. The things you notice while hunting, a bird you haven’t seen before, the antics of a squirrel or a fawn, the moment of the kill and the labor of retrieving your harvest.

My last hunt involved some blood trailing in the dark. As is common, my shot at a buck came just before sunset. I didn't like the placement of the shot so I waited until I thought he had gone out of earshot and hastily looked for the first blood sign I could find and marked it. I left it and went home to have a little supper and to get adequate lighting to follow the trail. When I came back I was able to quickly find the white tissue paper I had tied on a limb above the first drop of blood. Four hours and five hundred yards later I was privileged to retrieve the animal I had harvested.

I don’t want to bore you with all the details of a four hour tracking job but I do want to point out some interesting parallels to our Christian walk.

* Its important to pursue as quickly as possible. We must follow the trail with diligence unless we loose our harvest to other predators or scavengers. (2 Peter 1:10)

* What we see in the woods at night is completely different from what we are used to seeing during the day. The subtle yellows, greens and browns we see during the day becomes nearly monochromatic at night.

* The human eye is naturally drawn to the color red.

* At night there are different types of light, close in as from a gas lantern or a campfire, focused light as from a flashlight and the bluish white light of the moon on a really clear night. (Mat 5:14-16)

* Sometimes you will find yourself searching for the next drop of blood on your hands and knees.

* As you turn leaves over looking for the slightest trace of blood you may see a spot of red on the middle of a leaf. When you inspect more closely you discover it is a false drop. Maple leaves and others naturally have spots of red. I call them false drops. After a while you learn to recognize the difference between the real blood and the false trail randomly spread by the wind. (1 John 4:1)

* The real thing has the shine of authenticity. The more you see the real thing it becomes easier to recognize.

* Sometimes the trail is hidden by the forces of nature, rain, wind or animals. Even our own big feet can obliterate a blood trail. (Mark 4:4)

* At times you will loose the trail. At that point go back to the last drop of blood you found and begin searching in widening circles until you pick up the trail again.( Acts 17:27)

* Each step on the trail brings us closer to our harvest. (Philippians 3:14)

* Sometimes we need to go back to where we began and start the trailing process again from the beginning. We must ask ourselves questions about the important details. Was my shot really on the mark? Did I miss completely? Was the blood trail I was on actually real or was I fooled by the vagaries of nature? Once we assess where things truly stand we can either continue on the trail or begin the hunt again. (2 Cor. 13:2)