"Feet up! Feet up! Feet up!"

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Deuteronomy 33:27

Be still and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10

Sometimes life gets complicated and seems to be moving too fast.  In those time, my sister-in-law reminded me in a phone conversation the other day, the thing to remember is:  "Feet up!  Feet up!  Feet up!"  This is the advice given to white water rafters in the event of falling out of the raft.  "Keep your feet up and pointed downstream!  Then let the river carry you."  When we are thrown suddenly into life's turbulent waters and the cold water snatches out breath away, we need to "keep our feet up" and lean back into Jesus, letting him carry us.  He is the Lord of the rapids who knows where the dangerous whirlpools, hidden boulders and safe channels lie, and "underneath are the everlasting arms."

This week I am taking care of a beautiful calico cat named Sadie.  When Sadie and I first met, I was on my hands and knees peeking under the bed where she was hiding.  She was backed as far away from me as she could get, safely out of reach, where she stared at me with feigned disinterest.  In fact, she was scared to death of this new stranger in her domain.  She is the quintessential shy kitty, who jumps and runs at any sudden sound or movement.  Over the years she has lost her fear of me.  Now, when I arrive to feed her, she is right there on the dining room carpet rolling on her back and begging me to pet her.  If someone else comes in with me, however, she immediately runs for cover.  She LOVES to be brushed, and has relaxed enough in my presence that she purrs and rubs against me.  However, if I make a move to pick her up, she thunders up the stairs and dives under the bed.  She knows me.  I think she likes me; but she doesn't fully trust me, even after several years of "wooing" her.

My cat Rusty is another story.  When he is fully rested, he is an irrepressible scallywag, wound for sound, and looking for trouble.  Fortunately (for him), his rapscallion ways amuse me, so he continues to roister through life with a wild abandon that delights me.  When his energy has been sufficiently run off, however, he stretches his paws as far up my leg as he can reach and leans on me, asking to be picked up.  If I don't respond immediately, he gently extends his claws.  If that fails, he begins to climb my leg like a tree, a truly annoying habit of which we are trying to break him.  Once hoisted into my arms his whole body vibrates with his inaudible purr and he begins to go limp.  Settling in deeper, he emits a heavy shuddering sigh and drifts off to sleep.  He trusts me completely.  I carry him with me as I go about my business and he sleeps on.  He is not afraid that I might drop him or get a sudden urge to push him away.  He expects me to carry him, while he is still.  If I attempt to put him down, he half opens his eyes to give me a reproachful look and tried to hang on.

This is the feline demonstration of the rafter's advice, "Feet up!  Feet up! Feet up!"  In life's turbulent waters, all we have to do is position ourselves in God's arms, letting him carry us through to safety.  Do we trust him to carry us?  Are we willing to do whatever it takes to lean back in his arms?  When we are thrown into the river, we need to focus on two things - getting our feet in the right place, and leaning back in the water rather than flailing around in desperation or fighting against it.  Perhaps this is what God meant when he said, "BE STILL and know that I am God."  It means blocking out other unnecessary distractions, keeping our priorities in order and trusting in the sovereignty of God, his love for us, and his power to save us.  Then, perhaps, we can relax enough to enjoy the ride, even though it wasn't the one we had planned on (safe and dry in the raft).