Going Camping!

Let me begin by saying a huge “Thank You!” to Ms. Melissa Young for inspiring this blog post and in her words, “Puttin’ feet on it!” I believe we have decided that we will be a Moses and Aaron pair - so you will probably have many posts in the future that are a combination of our two heads put together. It takes the two of us to make up ONE decent teacher!

So, if any of you know anything about me at all you know that I am not a camper and certainly not a happy one at that! Call me crazy but I enjoy those insane luxuries like indoor plumbing, electricity and a mattress! Not to mention the fact that there isn’t much peace of mind knowing that the only thing that separates me from the “lions and tigers and bears oh my” is a thin piece of nylon, uh, no thanks! Do you see the sweet picture of our family over to your right? Do you see the caption that graces that picture? It was a looong night! Our daughter was just learning to use the potty so the time lapse between “Mommy, I have to potty” and her bladder exploding was less than a nano-second. Translation: You don’t have time to get to the indoor bathroom on the other side of the camp ground! Foreknowledge as a parent is rare but in this case we planned for the unexpected and brought the port-a-potty. We made our own little outhouse right beside the tent for emergencies - which proved frequent at best!

Next, we failed to account for ALL of the downtime that camping brings so needless to say we were in the tent ready for bed and wide awake in the dark at 8:30p.m. We finally managed to fall asleep only to be awaken by the distinct sound of a Volkswagon bug, circa 1970, pulling in a few sites down. We assume this was probably 11p.m. or so but the people who drove in didn’t seem to mind a bit as they set up camp VERY enthusiastically, calling out to one another and banging around. Things finally died down about an hour later and we drifted off for another ten minutes or so when our daughter determined that she was cold and that my sleeping bag would be much warmer. After laying awake, drenched in sweat, wondering what was rustling around right outside our tent on the prowl for fresh humans I was more than anxious for the first trace of dawn. As soon as I could see the slightest glimpse of my hand in front of my face I roused the troops and began to cook breakfast. I don’t even think it was 5:30a.m. at this point but I was tired and feeling a little vindictive. I made sure that the “Bug” people were well aware that we could also do things enthusiastically. (Is there anything that zaps the Jesus right out of you like no sleep?) By 6:30a.m. breakfast was done, tent was packed and I had the peddle to the metal head back to civilization. Needless to say, it was the first AND it was the last camping trip for the McBride family.

All of that to bring you to question your own camping trip. When was the last time you went camping? Where did you pitch your tent? Did you make sure it was a safe place? For those of you who have never camped, although I highly recommend it at least once, what conditions would you look for in choosing a place to set up camp? Did you know that the Bible talks about camping? Yep, there are some camping stories in the word of God - and you thought the Bible was just about some really old people thousand of years ago wandering around in the desert.

As we begin let’s see how the word “tent” is used in scripture. First, the word tent is used to describe our bodies. In 2 Peter 1:13 our bodies are referred to as tents or temporary dwelling places. Our bodies house our souls but only as long as we are alive on this earth. Once we pass on our bodies die and are no longer of any use to us. So, it is a good analogy for us to be able to see how our bodies are tents. From here on out in this lesson when we talk about tents we will be talking about ourselves, our bodies.

Another word for tent in the Bible is the word “tabernacle” which also means “dwelling place”. Let’s take a moment for a brief history lesson here. When God, through Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt he instructed them to build a “tabernacle” or special tent where His (God’s) presence could dwell among them. Are you starting to see the connection between tent, tabernacle and dwelling place? Okay, stay with me here. Once Jesus came He continued to talk about sending the Holy Spirit to believers once He ascended back to heaven so that they would always have the presence of God. However, for the believer, the Holy Spirit doesn’t dwell among us, He dwells within us! So, our bodies become His modern day tabernacle. That is why it says in 1 Corinithians 3:16-17; 6:19 that our bodies are the temple of God. Did you realize this? Did you know that when people say “God lives inside of us” it is true? What an amazing reality!

So, now that we have established our bodies as tents as well as God’s dwelling place we can get to the main point. Please read Psalm 91, for the sake of space I will not include it here. In verse one it states, “He who DWELLS in the shelter of the Most High, will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”  Then drop down to verses nine and ten, “Because you have made the Lord your DWELLING place—the Most High, who is my refuge - no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your TENT.”

There is so much we could learn in these few verses but let’s stick to our camping theme. God is inviting us here to dwell in His shelter. In other words, He invites us to pitch our tent in His shelter, in His shadow and then He tells us what happens when we do: “Because you have pitched your tent in His shelter, no evil or plague will come near your tent. Now, does that mean that you will never be tempted, that you will never have a trial or that you will never be sick again? No! However, it does promise us two things:

First, that we are safe from the evil one. We can know that no temptation or trial will come upon us except for those that are filtered through the hand of God and if that is the case then we can rest assured those trials and temptations are for our good! As it says is James 1:2 “Count it all joy my sisters when you fall into various trials KNOWING that the testing of your faith produces patience. And let patience have it’s perfect work that you may be complete lacking nothing!”  

The second promise is not a guaranteed immunization from all sickness, but a promise to general safety and protection. It says in Proverbs 12:21, “No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.” As we set up camp near the Lord we are placing our trust in Him for our safety and protection.

So, are you ready to go camping? Are you ready to move your tent from wherever you have been to higher ground? You see, God never moves so, if we have left His presence it is because we have moved! The pull of the world can be very strong in our lives and we have to be vigilant to make sure we stay in His presence by being in His word, becoming a part of a church where you can fellowship with other believers and always communing with Him in prayer. Today is a beautiful day! It’s a great day to go camping! Don’t hesitate, pack up your bags and let’s get a move on!