Get in the Boat

One More Summer Challenge

The highway in front of us oscillated from barely visible to “almost speed limit quality” and the misty fog required the thud-thud-thud of the windshield wiper as we headed west. I had one more segment of my summer road in retirement with Parkinson’s Disease to accomplish with a new command from God to "get in the boat." I was going fishing. It was actually working out beautifully. We rose at 4:30 am, grabbed a Starbucks for Chris and hit the road to the lake by 6 am. The thick misty fog cleared by the time we met our friend Rancher Ed and our fishing guide at, of all places, Ed’s Bait Shop in Devils Lake, North Dakota. God was shining on us, because a week ago this would have been a rainy, freezing cold venture, requiring snowmobile suits. Today, God had plans for me to catch fish, it was much warmer, and I was in the mood to face what seemed impossible a few weeks earlier.

I’m Going Fishing

He had witnessed blood and gore, and the man he respected more than anyone else on planet earth, his friend, was dead. But after a few days in hiding and receiving highly suspect news from a couple of women that his friend wasn’t dead, but alive and seen in person; well, this was too much. But a few days later he too he saw the man, his friend, and now also his God, Jesus, in person in someone’s home: sort of appearing out of nowhere. Peter had all these experiences, of seeing the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and yet, history shows he was still paralyzed with respect to what he, a common fisherman should do next in his life. He wasn’t sure of God’s will in this moment; if he was to bolt off into ministry preaching the gospel or continue hiding from the Roman authorities and religious elite who had killed Jesus. In his confusion, Peter did what all of us should do once in a while when we need a new perspective—he went fishing.

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So, they went out and got into the boat (John 21:1-3).

The Will of God

There was a period in my life where each summer, me, my card-playing friend rancher Ed, Chris, and Chris’ dad, would head out to fish on Devils Lake, now a premier walleye lake in the U.S. Then, I was walking, had good balance, my hands and fingers worked like they were supposed to, and my speech was powerfully proficient to talk smack with the guys about who was the best fisherperson. After successfully navigating several trips and experiences through this current summer (see previous three blogs) I, like Peter have discovered that if I want to experience the will of God, I have to embrace the moment with a transformed mindset and take risks. In Romans 12: 2 there is a verse that Chris and I have been living by this summer. It says that discovering God’s good, acceptable and perfect will involves a renewed mind and a faith-filled spiritual outlook on our present situation. It was either lay back in my old unrenewed way of thinking with Parkinson’s hitting me every which way or transform my soul and thoughts to align with God’s thoughts and words. He says all things are possible to those who believe. I’ll take that mindset any day; but it does take an effort of faith and risks. I had to get in that boat. I was energized in my spirit, filled with courage to rely on some way for it to happen. Plus, I couldn’t let rancher Ed catch more fish than me. I had to muster the courage to face this end of summer challenge.  

Get Into the Boat!

As long as I am talking about Jesus, Peter, boats, fishing, and choosing courage over fear, I might as well continue the metaphor. Matthew 14 captures a moment in history where the apostles of Jesus are on a lake in a boat that is being buffeted by waves in the dark of night, and they see Jesus walking toward them: on the water. In fear and confusion Peter asks Jesus to empower him to walk out to him and Peter walks on water. His fear gets the best of him; however, and he starts sinking and Jesus helps him get in the boat. I say all that not to be spiritual but to make the point that Peter needed to get out of the boat using his faith and indeed he did! He walked on water. But he needed the help of others, in this case Jesus. The fact remains Peter acted in that moment in faith and did the impossible with Christ’s help and intervention. At Devils Lake, as with other challenges I’ve had to face recently, I needed to step out of my handicapped mindset, trust God and use my faith. As important, I needed to trust God for the faith of others who were helping me. None of us can walk on water alone. And actually, I came close to walking on water by nearly falling in the lake!

Reliance on Others

My full dance card of 2025 summer activities wouldn’t have happened without the prayer support and help from many of you. Thank you. In addition, at Devils Lake the real courage of faith was manifested in rancher Ed, the guide and Chris; all of whom committed the week before to this venture. That early morning at the Six Mile Bay boat launch, anyone watching us probably could have compared the scene to a circus performer on a trapeze, not because of beauty grace and cunning precision, but because of the fearful expectation of a fall. My balance is bad, let’s face it and I was tipping this way and that way but somehow staying on the wire. I had a one guy with a bad shoulder (Chris), and another guy with two bad knees (rancher Ed) lifting and guiding me on to the deck, while the one strappingly strong and able-bodied man (the guide) held the boat in a headlock, pinning it the dock to eliminate the chasm to the lake bottom. Truly the Son of God was with us that morning and eventually we managed to go from solid dock to not so steady boat deck and all was good with the world again. Faith slathered with lots of grace had won the day.

Embrace Your Moments

I have had many moments this year where darkness has thrown it all at me it seems, and the honest truth is that God hasn’t swept in and rescued me. But, in those moments, he has spoken fiery words of faith into my renewed heart and mind. He has reiterated over and over that he’s there, right with me with his Spirit who is our advocate for divine encouragement. Whatever your situation, we may need to be like Peter, embrace the moment, call to Jesus and then get out of the boat. Or in my case, get IN the boat! Whatever the challenge that is set before you realize you don’t have to conform to the hardships at hand. Perhaps your challenge isn’t as trivial as fishing but involves a relationship you’ve been avoiding, a fear that needs to be conquered, a limitation that needs to be tested with the power of God within you. Just remind yourself that God is right there saying “get out of the boat.” We are not to be conformed to the evil challenges of this present age which come in so many different forms and from so many varied sources of darkness. Let’s embrace Romans 12:2 and face things differently because He is in us building and constructing a renewed and different spiritual us. Like I said in my last blog, physical Eileen hears, “Stay on the dock and remain safe” but spiritually minded Eileen hears God in that moment saying, “Rise up and do the impossible. I’ve got you.”