We’ve had a lot of rain in recent weeks. The streams have been full and sometimes flooding.
The water has been strong and flowing fast.
What do I see when the waters recede a bit?
There are places that the water has swept away parts of the bank, creating new areas where before there were rocks or brush, but now its smooth ground where newness can be created and grown.
I see some debris. Old leaves or twigs, even some trash that was caught up in the chaos of the storms that should have been cleaned up long ago, but was ignored. The strong current of the water has brought it out of hiding, out of the crevices of wherever it was
stuck and has brought it to light and washed it away.
The rocks and pebbles underneath the surface of the water are still there, steady and strong, with a constant flow of water that is smoothing and forming them, never stopping as long as the flow of water is over them.
After the storms and the water has calmed, it’s so beautiful. As I watch it and listen to it flowing, it’s calming and peaceful to my soul.
The lesson…
We are a part of the creation story we read about in Genesis 1.
The water, the Earth, humankind…it’s our story, our heritage.
There are times in life we feel as though God is a mystery, but in creation, we can see Him, for He is in every thing. He is. We can accept this truth or overlook it, but it’s still true. Everything in creation can be a way we see a glimpse of God and know Him and allow Him to shape us into more of His likeness.
Like the water, life can throw us some storms and overwhelm us. And even though the storms may take away, or change life, or possibly create new places we didn’t expect or ask for, it can also be a way of guiding to a new part of life, or carving a new path.
Sometimes hard seasons that don’t let up when we would like them to, can bring up or uncover hidden emotions or trauma that maybe we thought we had tucked away where no one would ever see it. But God always knew it was there, and wants you to allow Him to move that out of your way, so that fresh springs of His love can fill those spaces. The path to getting there probably isn’t pleasant, and probably really difficult, but after a time, after the storm settles and the water recedes, there is a renewed peace. Will there be other storms, you can count on it, but the newness and growth created from the last one will provide support and you have learned that you will survive it and get through it.
I want to be like those stones and pebbles underneath the surface, always immersed and protected by the Living Water, constantly flowing over and through me…slowing shaping and molding and covering and transforming over the course of our lives. I never want that Water to dry up or stop flowing, this is when the soul can become stagnant or dry, desperate for nourishment and the comfort of that cool water flowing.
May this be true for me and for you. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
~Dawn