The "Joy" Of Camping

This morning I was drawn right back to where we left off yesterday in Psalm 118.  I began my study by perusing through many of the various electronic and hard copy versions of the Bible that I have at my disposal.  I read down to the first part of verse fifteen in the New International Version and was flooded with memories of a set of funny events that happened a few years back while on a family camping trip.  First though, let me share with you the verse in Psalm 118:15.  It proclaims that “Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous.”  The words “joy,” “victory” and “tents” is what sent my thoughts down testimony lane.

In the summer of 1998 my family and I embarked upon a much anticipated vacation to our favorite camp at Plumas Eureka State Park, located high in the northeast Sierra Nevada Mountains about an hour north of Truckee, California.  On the first night of our adventure, we set up our camp along the banks of Little Jamison Creek within the park, had a late dinner, took a short hike around the campgrounds and finally got the kids settled into their sleeping bags in the tent.  After tiding up around the camp, I quietly entered the tent, zipped the door shut and slipped off my shoes and socks and sat on my bag. The moment I touched down, the key fob in my pocket pressed against the myriad of other things that I had stuffed in there and set off the alarm in the Suburban that began to wail throughout the dark and VERY quiet camp!

The “victory” part of that verse reminded me of how God had miraculously provided a way for us to purchase the new Suburban earlier in the year.  My wife had faithfully been believing for the truck for many months.  Since it was new, and was the car that my wife drove everyday, I was still unfamiliar with all its bells and whistles (no pun intended…). So instead of just pressing the button to immediately stop the alarm, I fumbled with the tent zipper, tripped out the door and ran in my bare feet, across the camp to the vehicle, only to then realize that I just needed to push the fob!  It was after the noise of my pounding heart had quieted down that I heard the “shouts of joy” emanating from our tent!  Needless to say, my antics had awaken the sleeping children and they along with my wife (and probably the entire camp) enjoyed a good laugh at my expense.  But hold on, that wasn’t the end of it…

We all enjoyed the moment and then my wife resettled the children in their bags.  After a few moments of quiet solitude, I checked to make sure that the four kids were asleep and began to get ready for bed.  This time I gingerly removed the key fob and placed it in a secure place.  Then I quietly began to undress.  I was about halfway through the process when suddenly the sound of a vehicle echoed through the trees, and wouldn’t you know it, but it’s lights swung directly onto our tent casting a large shadow of me getting ready for the night.  I immediately burst out laughing and dove onto the floor of the tent.  This, of course, woke the children up, and for the second time that night the sounds of joyful shouting flowed from our tent!  This was an event that they have never forgotten and still remind me of to this day!

Is there a spiritual lesson in all this?  You bet!  The laughter and fun that came from our tent that night is symbolic of the “shouts of joy” that we, the righteous, should be proclaiming from the roof tops of our homes!  We are to stand apart from the rest of the world!  We are to be a happy people, and the lights in our neighborhoods.  It should come of no surprise when people ask you why you are so happy all the time!

Remember the verse says “shouts of joy and victory.”  Shout for joy and tell of the victory that you have as a Believer in Jesus Christ!  Your living example will be the hook, line and sinker to pull in another catch for the Kingdom of God!  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What HAPPY things am I expecting today?”