Wading In by Randy Rowley 10/9/15 ©
ByOne of the greatest dangers in pursuing ducks is walking around in the water at night, wearing only a headlamp or cap light to help you spot hazards. Besides many stumps, branches, rocks, trash, and other things to trip on, the bottom of a lake, river, or pond is often uneven and sometimes has holes and drop-offs. This can be quite hazardous when wearing waders, which hunters wear to keep dry and warm. (The only time they aren’t needed in Texas is during the September early teal season.)
If a hunter steps into a large hole, he can suddenly go underwater, and his waders will quickly fill up. Waders that are even partially full of water make wading difficult and swimming or treading water almost impossible.
Such an event occurred in mid-November on Owl Creek off of Lake Belton. My family and I launched at Owl Creek Park and headed up the creek. I had only been on those waters once before, but that was in daylight. Now it was pitch black, and things looked very different. We spotted most of the stumps with my spotlight, but staying in the winding creek channel was another matter. As the waters narrowed, my prop started vibrating from hitting the bottom. Then we ran aground.
I quickly determined that we had strayed to the south of the channel. After turning my boat’s motor off, my son-in-law, Justin Painter, and I hopped out of my boat, pulled it back the way we had come, then turned it to starboard (the right), and started pushing it towards the channel. The water steadily deepened, so I knew we were going the right way.
Justin got back into my boat while I continued maneuvering it toward the channel. Suddenly I went from waist-deep water to no longer being able to touch the bottom. I would have been in real trouble, but I held onto my boat’s side, which kept my head above water. Still, a lot of water went over the top of my waders and worked its way down both pant legs. And it was cold!
Justin used one of my paddles and got us back to where my feet could again touch the bottom. I pulled my boat back to waist-deep water and then, with considerable effort, pulled my now heavier self back on board.
I was wet and cold, and, to add insult to injury, we didn’t have a duck come within shotgun range that morning. Later, after we trailered my boat and I was on terra firma, I slipped off my waders – around a gallon of water per pant leg spilled out onto the asphalt. The water had made me around 16 lbs. heavier – not a lot on dry land, but it would have been very tough swimming if I hadn’t been able to hold on to my boat’s side.
Duck hunters having to wade usually isn’t an option. It’s possible to set out your decoys and hunt from your boat, but if you don’t have a retriever (and I don’t), then someone will have to wade into the water to retrieve downed ducks, as trying to maneuver one’s boat through the decoys is next to impossible. Also, it’s impractical as your boat either doubles as your blind or is 100 yards away with a camo tarp on top of it to hide it from wary eyes. Waiting until the hunt is over to retrieve dead ducks with your boat is also a problem, as they usually float out of sight, making them very difficult to find. For many duck hunters, retrieving downed ducks means getting in the water.
The book of Joshua recounts God naming Joshua as the leader of the Hebrews after Moses’s death. The Hebrews had finally reached the Jordan River’s bank after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. They were determined not to repeat their parents’ mistakes and were ready to cross the Jordan and conquer the land God had promised was theirs.
The Hebrews had watched an entire generation of their disbelieving fathers and mothers die because of their lack of faith – they refused to enter the promised land when they first arrived, fearing the land’s inhabitants (God then punished them by causing them to wander in the desert for 40 years). But the Jordan was flowing at flood level – crossing it with over a million people would be very challenging.
Joshua took charge. He said to the Hebrews, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” (Joshua 3:9-13.)
With all the Hebrews watching, the priests carried the ark, containing the broken 10 Commandments tablets to the water’s edge and waded in. It was their greatest step of faith.
Joshua 3:15-17 says, “Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”
The Jordan didn’t pile up as the priests approached it – nothing happened until the priests left the bank’s safety and waded in. God waited for their demonstrated obedience and commitment before fulfilling his promise. God enabled the Hebrews to have confidence in Joshua by keeping his promise. By requiring the priests to take an initial action (taking a step into the river, in this case), he taught the Hebrews an important lesson about trusting him and the blessings obedience could bring.
God often teaches us about faith and trust by leading us to unchartered waters. If we could see where we’re going and understand God’s plan, we wouldn’t need faith – we’d know where the holes and drop-offs are and would easily avoid them.
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT) says, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” We must live by faith, which gives us unshakable assurance. With faith, we can wade into the water when we can’t see the bottom and “know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT.) When we refuse to wade into the water God has brought us to, we often miss experiencing the mercy and grace of God. Our disobedience hinders God from blessing us.
Many of us are hesitant about surrendering all of ourselves to God. We hesitate because we’re scared of what we can’t see or understand, so we stay put and don’t wade in. We want to have victory, peace, joy, and abundant life, but the fear of what we might lose by surrendering all of ourselves paralyzes us. We can’t see what we’ll gain by totally submitting to him.
God is ready to pile up the floodwaters and lead us into a bountiful new land filled with his blessings. To experience this, we must trust him in every area of our lives. Just as we must wade into dark waters to have a chance of being successful duck hunters, to have successful lives as Christians, we must take hold of his hand and boldly wade in.
Randy with around a gallon of water in each wader pant leg
