Camping!

There is a line in the 2005 movie Sahara where Matthew McConaughey’s character, Dirk Pitt, from the bestselling Clive Cussler adventure novels, is telling the heroin of the story as they are riding in a fast boat up the Niger river, that the best things in his life have always happened in the water.  For me, many of the best memories of my life come from my experiences camping with my family as a child growing up, with family friends, cousins, my wife and then with our four children.

I went camping in the Redwoods with a good friend just days before I proposed to my wife.  We started out our marriage camping during the last few days of our honeymoon and we spent our last vacation alone together enjoying a wonderful week up in the Sierra’s camping before the symptoms of dementia began to become pronounced in her over the next few years.

Well, today as I continued my study in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, I discovered why I have had this love for the great outdoors… It would seem that Jesus also likes to camp!  The last part of verse nine says “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (KJV)  According to Strong’s the literal meaning of “rest” is “to tent upon.”  In other words, it is like going camping together with Jesus!  Now, before you start shaking your head, just think about it for a minute… When Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus and the three Apostles after His transfiguration, what was Peter’s first reaction?  He wanted to camp out with them!  He was thinking about setting up three tents so they could fellowship around the campfire, have S’mores, go hiking and fishing with the guys and savor the hot coffee perking over an open fire in the early morning!

He desired to have some quiet, undisturbed and special time with Jesus and the two Old Testaments hero’s of his faith!  What better place than in the solitude of the mountains away from the pressures of life.  Okay, okay!  So maybe this wasn’t the Apostle Paul’s exact thoughts when he talked about Jesus’ abiding with us in the midst of our weaknesses, but it definitely proves a point!

He was saying that our times of weakness can allow Jesus’ strength and ability to rise up in us so that we can successfully go through the hard times in life.  Our vulnerable times, when yielded to Him, can have the same effect as a week camping in the mountains has on me!  Those trips allowed me the ability to get away from the busyness and stress of life and get physically and spiritually renewed to face whatever would come against me in the months that followed that vacation.

God’s Word is telling us that Jesus wants to camp with or in us 24/7, throughout all the trials and tribulations that we face.  He wants us to encounter His strength, His peace and His ability in the midst of the situations we deal with on a daily basis!  Sometimes those adverse times are quick and relatively easy, while others may seem to last for years.  But no matter their duration, He wants us to know that He has set up camp with us and is looking forward to fellowshipping with us around the campfire.  All we need to do is to recognize this fact and decide to yield our time and troubles to Him.

I have a cousin who lost a son in a random shooting at a party seven years ago.  She wrote last night in Facebook that it was her faith that has gotten her through this journey.  She stated that her faith has been critical in helping her survive some of “the most searing emotional pain imaginable.”  It was that abiding with Jesus through an intimate relationship with Him along with the loving words and actions of family and friends that gave her the strength to rise above the circumstances.  In her weakest times He became strong for her!  Her example is one for all of us to follow after!

So, I encourage you to set up a tent for Him in your heart today… right now!  Make the time to fellowship with Him around the campfire on a regular daily basis.  Believe me, it is the ONLY way that you’ll make it through the hard times in this life!  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”