by Don Emmitte |
|
|
“For
I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans
for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those
days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will
find me when you seek me.”
(Jeremiah 29:11-13 NLV). I was surfing through some of
the digital pictures we took last year on a visit to Niagara Falls.
Even though we only stayed a little while, it was a spectacular
sight. We rode the “Maid of
the Mist VI” to the base of the falls and got a perspective of it that
was unforgettable. Seeing the pictures caused me to do a little research
into the source of all the water. Much of the water comes from melting
snow and ice. In early spring, Niagara Falls is most awesome as the heavy
winter ice starts to break up. Did you know that last year the ice in the
gorge was the thickest that it has ever been, up to 30 feet thick? This
ice forms an ice bridge that people can actually walk on to the other
shore. Our
lives can be like that at times. God's Spirit comes rushing over the
Falls, breaking up some of the bitterness present, old habits, old
thoughts lingering. He wants to flush them out of our lives and perhaps
unrepentant hearts so He can work again. Sometimes we like that ice bridge
in our lives because it anchors and solidifies us to our past or our
traditions. But many times God wants us to move on and seek a new
dimension, something that we may have never experienced before. And that
can hurt. The ice likes to stay around but the warmer water eats it away.
The ice heaves, buckles, and is hurled down the riverbed, leaving a clean
slate for God to work with. Maybe some scars remain, but God wants a clean
riverbed to work with. It's the spring season that can make the flowers
grow the trees bud and blossom. Further down stream is the whirlpool. Here
you'll see water and debris go around and around, always moving in a
circular, counterclockwise direction. Floating objects can stay there for
weeks, constantly orbiting in a mindless direction. We can have the same
motion in our own lives. Our excuses could be that we were born that way,
we were brought up that way, or it's too hard to change our circumstances.
Little do we know that if we allow God's Spirit to prod us out of our
giant whirlpool of life, take a tangent, our situation could improve. We
might have to take a little hectic ride down the rapids through the
narrows where the river is less than 200 feet wide. |
|
