Have you ever discovered a place filled with so much beauty and tranquility it made you feel like you could never leave? Toward the end of the trip to Rocky Mountain High, our group went on an adventure to an area a few kids had discovered on a hike. For something a little different, we planned to spend our youth group time there instead of the assigned room the Rocky staff had given us. It was a bit of a jaunt and I began to wonder if the boys who were leading us had another plan for their gullible followers. Just as they had promised, after rounding a corner deep within a ravine, I spotted a brook with a lovely little bridge extending over it to the path on the other side. It was a beautiful and breathtaking spot for us to stop as a group, and a place I would venture back to, given the chance.
Our group spent some time there together, and concluded that time in silence listening to praise music. As I sat perched on a log by the brook within God’s tranquil creation, I took notice of the smooth boulders below the surface of the shallow, chilly water. I questioned if the large stones began as huge chunks of jagged mountain that had fallen to the stream below years before. Over time the water has carved those rough boulders into smooth, rounded formations, now making up the bottom of the brook. When I looked up from the water, I noticed the trees plunging their roots deep into the bank of the brook for the life giving water to keep their leaves lush and green. A little higher on the bank was a small, old, abandoned shack falling in on itself and, I’ll admit, it seemed a bit out of place. I quickly forgot about the shack as I looked up the trail a bit further to see a stairway of rock and tree roots only to lose sight of the path as it disappeared up the mountain.
As my mind was taking it all in, I realized how much of a metaphor the scene was of my life and made me think of how God has been at work in me throughout the years. The cold, jagged edges of my sinful heart have become more smooth and gentle as I have experienced my Father in Heaven. I know I can now travel through the rushing waters of this life, and trust God is with me; and when I pass through the rivers they will not sweep over me. (Isaiah 43:2) My Savior has let me drink of His living water and as the life giving water flows through me, it has washed my sins down the stream where they are remembered no more. (Hebrews 8:12) And the old shack on the edge of the bank? Well, that’s the ugly place I abandoned when my Savior’s hand clasped mine and called me to walk with Him as we co-labor together in His beautiful creation.
May this be so of you also, that you cannot escape the beauty and tranquility of our Father in Heaven, the gift of His Son and may the river of living water flow freely through you and into the lives of others.
Becky Ossefoort