It’s a new song. A brand new arrangement. A choir of distinctive birds. Every morning they gather, offering the soundtrack to the quiet sanctuary of my backyard. But today I’m restless. Distracted. All around me, I witnessed dozens of struggling plants. Heads drooped, leaves withered. I wasn’t the only one affected by several days of high temperatures rocketing in the 90s and into the 100s. I couldn’t enjoy the choir’s generous offering this morning while the fragile beauty around me appeared to be choking.
I rose from my front row seat and, within minutes, saturated every pot, soaking each plant until the ground could hold no more water. I steadied. Waited. Felt the deepest satisfaction as drooped plants slowly found strength to lift their heads upward in thanksgiving. Curled leaves began to unfurl with a look of bold courage and gratitude.
I, the gardener, rested… satisfied that these delicate reflections of God’s indescribable beauty had received the gift they desperately needed…water!
I held my Bible tight, closed my eyes and smiled deeply! I understood. God’s purpose in bringing me to this still moment with Himself was no different than the moment I anxiously longed to provide for my suffering plants. He, the Master Gardener, ached to refresh and revive me, seeing how the sweltering heat of life had caused my head to hang down and my soul to curl inward.
Oh Friends, these few moments in His presence are not the expected acts of the spiritually disciplined or mere practices of the studious sojourner. Time spent in His Word, hearing the whisper of His love and the invitation to drop our needs at His feet is far more than a mere act of obedience. I open His Word and heavy clouds split! On dusty desert ground, pools gather. My eyes open. I discover His oasis within a desert world that exhausts and shrivels and shrinks out hope. I plunge deep. His Words wash over me, a refreshing coolness that one can only experience rather than try to describe. Those waters penetrate the crusty layers of my soul, regenerate every doubting cell, and clear clouded vision! I emerge from the water. Eyes cleared. Courage revived. All that could swelter hope is now soaked, cooled in the pool of His grace.
During a weekend flooded with hoopla and festivities, take time to plunge deep. While the sun blazes, allow His clouds to gather over you, linger while the pools emerge…then open to His invitation to dive in, drenching your soul in a hot and weary land where there appears to be no water!
Beauty Awaits,
Patty
Anchor of Hope: Psalm 84:5-6 How blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain! [The Message]
Psalm 84:7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. [NIV]
Photo Credit: Tony Wolfe