We were already not catching anything. The certainty of a big school of the scaly specimens we were searching for had transformed into an uncertainty after a couple of fruitless hours of casting and waiting and then morphed into a certain unreality as the time counted down and the thermometer ticked up. Into this conundrum of less-than-fulfilled aspirations during a tournament that was reminding me that I was either a “has been” or a “never was” when it comes to fishing legends, the dreaded “backlash” added insult to injury. Already limping through a fishless day, the loops in my line further complicated an already-complicated search for my elusive green, slimy friends. What’s a guy to do in a situation like that?
Sometimes it just goes that way doesn’t it? Things go wrong, and then (fully realizing this is improper English, but dismissing that fact for a terminological effect…) things just get more wronger! Take this bad to worse phenomenon and anyone can recognize its appearance in a multitude of life’s situations. The clock already tells you you’re running 10 minutes late, and the car tire decides it just doesn’t feel like holding air today…A hard day of work renders you hot and sweaty and worn out, and the electricity goes out making you hotter and sweatier and worn outer due to no AC…The kid brings home a bad grade from school one afternoon, and in the middle of the night it is apparent he also brought home a stomach virus…When it rains it pours sometimes doesn’t it?!
Jesus never promised us smooth sailing on our journeys through these sin-stricken lives we live. Much to the contrary, He promised us that In this world, you will have trouble. (John 16:33). It appears that life’s loops, tangles, and knots reinforce what Job claimed so long ago – Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. (Job 14:1). Each and every one of us could fill in the details on these broad truth claims. However, each and every one of us could also place a comma after each of the statements and follow it with something that starts with, “But God” and ends with whatever beauty He allows us to see in the midst of the chaos of the moment. Loops are surrounded by loveliness if we take time to notice. Tangles are always in the vicinity of timeless truths. And other obstacles are just the pathway to some overwhelming event that the Almighty wants to bring into our lives.
The loops of life are going to come – no getting around it. And when they do, let’s determine to be people that rather than moan and groan over the situation, we look for the fingerprints of God that are certainly lurking in the shadows. Now, around a twist in the trail in the woods, or staring at a tangled mess of fishing line on the lake, I’ll see you in the Great Outdoors!
Rod & Staff Outdoor Ministries 