Lost In The Canadian Wilderness
By Norm Rasmussen
(A trial of trusting God,
plus insights into
answered prayer)
Losing the trail
in the Canadian
wilderness was bad enough,
but we had fought a cold,
hard rain all day and now
our clothing and
sleeping bags were
sopping wet.
The three of us
had one destination in
mind. The old Mellema
cabin on Guide Lake (That
was a nickname Hank and
Roger Mellema gave
it, the two brothers who
first introduced the lake
to me, bless
their hearts. The lake’s
actual name is Penelope
Lake) in Ontario,
Canada. If the cabin was
still standing, there we
at least would
have a roof over our
heads for the night, even
if no one had left
any dry firewood, which
was usually the case. But
the cabin might
just as well have been
thousands of miles away,
because I had no
idea now how to lead the
two boys there.
It was early
June, 1985. I was 38
years old. Brian Nielson
was age 16, and Brian
Rasmussen, my son, was
age 15. Our backpack
trip into this remote
Canadian Lake was for
seven days. To
accommodate our stay, we
had 5 large backpacks
chock full of
supplies, a 17-foot
aluminum canoe, a 22-lb.
boat motor, and other
items tied about us.
The problem
confronting us right from
the very beginning was
that the wilderness trail
to the lake was covered
over from downed
trees. One or more
windstorms had gone
through, covering it with
piles of downed trees and
limbs. I must confess at
this point that I
was probably unwise for
even having us out there.
For two weeks
prior I had not had a
good night’s sleep due to
stress at work and
the stress of moving into
a new house. Mentally
and physically
fatigued to the bone from
days previous, I had now
driven from
southern Michigan into
Canada for hours on end
without rest.
On our first lake
crossing, we nearly
tipped the top heavy
canoe over a couple of
times from strong wind
gusts. Had that
happened, all our
supplies would have gone
to the bottom of the lake
and the trip would have
been over before barely
getting started.
Once we started
walking on foot, we had
to push hard to make
it to Guide Lake by dark
- over piles of downed
trees - around piles
of trees that were too
big to climb over.
Carrying a cumbersome 80-
pound canoe through that
Canadian wind-ravaged
jungle didn’t help,
and now suddenly 3/4 of
the way to the lake, we
somehow managed to
stray off the trail and
we were lost.
It was time to
pray. Pray and trust. We
joined hands. “Lord -
I’m not sure I’ve done
the right thing. I
promised these boys a
fishing trip for months
now, and I didn’t want to
back out at the
last minute. All three of
us believed your
blessings were upon this
trip, so we came. But
Lord, my head is
spinning. I’m having trouble
with disorientation, and
I’ve been an outdoorsman
long enough to
know that I’m putting all
three of us in serious
jeopardy. If we
don’t find the trail
again soon, we’re going
to be spending the
night and maybe longer
out here in the freezing
rain, and all of us
may end up with
pneumonia. So Lord -
we’re asking you for help.
We’re trusting you to
show us the trail.”
Half an hour
later we found the trail!
Half an hour
later we found the trail!
We were so thankful.
Then, half an hour after
that we lost the trail
again that led to
the lake. And that’s
when discouragement
really started setting in.
We were shaking from our
cold, wet clothing. My
boy had fallen from
fatigue and jammed a
broken limb into his
thigh. There was severe
swelling - possibly a
broken blood vessel. I
had twisted an ankle,
and it throbbed.
Discouragement and
fatigue was eating so
badly at
the boys that I knew I
had to do something to
get their minds off
it. I sent them back to
get some of the supplies
left behind,
telling them to mark
their route with bits of
toilet paper
periodically draped off
limbs so they could find
their way back to
me.
Standing all
alone in the cold pouring
rain, I realized my
relationship with Christ
was now about to be
tested beyond anything
I had ever dreamed.
“Lord, these boys have
put their trust in you
back there when we prayed
the first time. You came
through. But now
their faith is almost
gone. We’ve lost the
trail again going to the
lake. What do you want
me to do? They are
expecting me to find the
way to the lake.”
for the future
... when we face our next
trial.
There is a saying
that seriously
contradicts Proverbs 3:5-6,
which says: “God helps
those who help
themselves.” This is the
greatest hindrance in
obeying Proverbs 3:5-6
that the devil has ever
handed the human race!
The fact of the matter is
... God delights
when we daily seek Him
for guidance when we
aren’t sure what to do.
It is times like this in
our lives when we draw
closer to God, and
God loves it when we
purpose to draw closer to
Him.
As a side note to
this testimony, my wife
and I have learned
a very valuable insight
about praying and
trusting God. Kathleen
and I are forever losing
(misplacing) important
things in our
house. About half a
dozen times a year it
seems, we will lose
something around the
house, and search
everywhere we can think
of to
find what we are looking
for. If you’ve ever
experienced this, it
can become very
frustrating, because you
would rather be using your
time doing something you
feel is a lot more
important than being on
a “forever Easter egg
hunt.” Besides - the
item you are looking for
shouldn’t be all that
hard to find anyway!
When this happens
to us ... after the one
who lost the item
usually has worked
him/her self into an
emotional tizzy-fit ... the
other one suggests we get
God involved.
We come together
in prayer and ask the
Lord to show us where
the lost item is, because
He certainly knows where
it is. All He
has to do is show us.
Not difficult for Him at all.
Here has been the
most interesting thing
for years now of
putting this prayer into
practice. In the
beginning, we would just
ask Him to show us where
the lost item was ... and
discovered that
it almost always took
several weeks or months
before accidentally
stumbling across the lost
item, and sometimes not
finding it at all.
But God began to
challenge our continual
doing it that way.
God began to speak to our
spirit’s, saying every
time we
asked: “Are you going to
trust Me to help you find
it?”
The first several
times of asking and
trusting that He would
help us find it, mind
battles of doubt and
logic would start ...
much like the mind battle
I had in Canada that time
waiting for Him
to show me how to re-find
the trail. We discovered
quickly that
it’s easy to ask God for
something ... but what
triggers spiritual
warfare (mind battles)
quickly is the trusting part!
Yet when we told
God out loud that we were
going to trust
Him to help us find the
lost item, after we had
asked Him to help us
find it of course, and
then just giving the
whole thing over to Him
and we would stop looking
for the item ... it was
truly amazing how
quickly we stumbled
across the lost item.
Sometimes within just a
few minutes!
I purposely tried
both methods (Asking
alone; and asking and
trusting) just to see if
there was truly something
to this. When
something was lost or
misplaced, I would ask
God to help me find
it. Like I said earlier
... many times it took
months to find the
item. But when I asked
God to help me find it,
and told Him I would
actively trust Him to
show me where it was ...
I would find it in
mere minutes or maybe an
hour or two at the
longest -- and not even
be looking for it when I
found it! On rare
occasion, it was longer,
but God always has a
reason for delaying the
finding of it right
away, I also discovered,
if there is much of a delay.
Did we have any
knowing faith that God
would show us where
the lost item was? In
the beginning, no. The
first few times ...
we would just tell God we
were going to trust Him
to help us find
the misplaced item if it
He wanted to ... and we
would purposely
quit looking for the lost
item.
But after finding
lost items so quickly
upon trusting with
our asking, our
confidence began to grow
that God would show us
where the lost item was
much quicker simply
because He had times
before. When you have
personal testimonies to
build on ... they can
go a long way toward
building one’s assurance
that God will keep
coming through time and
time again. If He
chooses not too, that’s
fine. But why even let
that be a concern? Ask
and trust and see
what happens. What is
there to lose?
I have to believe
that this is an important
principle we all
can learn by. Jesus told
His disciples something
that was recorded
for believers today. He
told them in Mark 11:22:24:
“Have faith in
God. (Confident,
patient, calm trust)
For assuredly, I
say to you, whoever says
to this
mountain, ‘Be removed and
be cast into the sea,’
and does not doubt
in his heart, but
believes that those
things he says will come to
pass, he will have
whatever he says.
Therefore I say
to you, whatever things
you ask when you
pray, believe that you
receive them, and you
will have them.”
I added the black
explanation in bold
brackets and
highlighted in yellow two
key insights to this
promise. Expect
doubt to be your number
one enemy when you ask
God for whatever it
is you are asking Him for.
This is vitally
important ... so ask God
to quicken it to
you, and trust Him that
He will in His time and
in His ways:
When you ask God
for anything ... believe
or trust that He
not only hears your
request, but that He is
going to give you wisdom
and/or specific direction
in what your part in it
might be ... or
might not be.
Keeping it simple
-- anyone can ask God for
something. That
takes no spiritual energy
to speak of. Trusting
Him that He is
going to respond to your
request in what is first
. . . best for
Him - others -and you -
is what can be very
difficult, because we
want instant results --
instant feedback from God.
First of all, the
demon/s assigned to you
have no intention
of allowing that to
happen easily. Secondly,
sometimes God will
wait years before He
makes our path clear in
certain matters. He
always has a good reason
for doing so, you can be
assured of.
Making us wait for
direction from Him tries
our faith like little
else will, and remember -
the trying (testing -
refining) of our
faith is more precious to
God than all the material
wealth of this
world. (See: 1 Peter 1:7).
In other words,
ask and trust God to
reveal His will to you
(or what He knows is best
for you) in a given
situation first before
just going off zealously
trying to believe God for
something that He
isn’t maybe going to
honor anyway. Some want
to make you think God
is obligated to honor
everything you ask and
trust Him for. Not so
at all, and you’ll learn
that the hard way if you
haven’t already.
It must be in His will
(His will is His wisdom
for your life, and
the journey He has
planned for you until
your life here on earth is
done) for Him to honor
your asking and trusting,
or believing
(or “saying,” for that
matter).
Keep this in mind
as well, because it is so
important. The
above scripture Jesus
gave to His disciples is
not a formula to get
out of God whatever we
would like to get out of
Him. There are no
formulas to do that.
There are guidelines -
but never formulas.
You can ask and believe
God for a new
multi-million dollar mansion
and live your whole life
never having God grant
you your request if
God determines it simply
was a selfish request and
serves no eternal
purpose that He grant you
your request and honor
your trust (nor
your constant speaking
positively about it if
you are trying to make
your confession a
formula). The devil
delights in getting us to
ask
selfish requests and put
trust and/or positive
confession behind
them (knowing full well
God seldom grants our
selfish requests) to
help try to destroy our
confidence in God, so be
very careful about
what you ask God for and
decide you’re going to
trust Him for and/or
confess. You want your
confidence in God to grow
... not be
reversed, (as the devil
desires).
Which leads me to
the next insight into
answered prayer:
Ask God, and
trust God to show you --
if what you would like
from Him is a selfish
request on your part, or
a bonafied need at
the time. God is no
magic Genie. However ...
sometimes God will
grant us personal
requests that someone
else might consider to be
selfish. Sometimes God
wants to bless us just to
show us how much
He wants to reward us at
a given season in our
life for being
obedient to Him.
It was not a
“need” that we find the
trail into Guide Lake
to have a fun fishing
trip. That was a
personal, selfish desire on
our parts, yet God chose
to bless our trusting ...
and maybe the fun
we had at the lake that
week had absolutely
nothing to do with why
He did ... but rather -
maybe He did so, knowing
you would be
reading this right now
... challenging you to
begin trusting Him in
some seemingly difficult
situation you may be in
right now that
looks totally impossible
to find a way out of.
[
In all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He
shall direct your
paths. -- Proverbs 3:5-6
(NKJV)
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