Even in Winter

“…for wherever this water flows everything will come alive!“ – Ezekiel 47:9

You can take the same route to work, the same walk in your neighborhood, the same hiking path time after time, and suddenly the familiar seems to jump from the background into an explosion of awareness. God seems to love to continually communicate to us about Himself through His creation...and He's doing it all the time, 24/7, even when we aren't paying attention, with every change of color and cloud shape in an evening sunset, with every fragrant breeze, with every shadow and sunbeam dancing and forever changing the appearance of a familiar mountain vista. It makes you wonder if He's saying: "Hey, look at this! Check this out! Hey! ...HEY! I want to show you something more about Me for a sec, if you'll just stop doing what you're doing and stop thinking and worrying yourself silly."

It's true that in the opening verses of Genesis, when all of His creation had been created and in place, "God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He validated it completely." But that was just the beginning of The Beginning. As the New England preacher and revivalist Jonathan Edwards once wrote, "We have seen that the Son of God created the world for this very end: to communicate Himself in an image of His own excellency."

This is what is happening in Ezekiel 47. God communicates Himself as a river — that His very presence is like a non-stop, life-giving flow into our world that cannot be contained, diverted, or roadblocked by life's obstacles, questions, and circumstances. God's presence is so powerful, so wonderful, that it brings life to dead things, and fuels those all along its banks who choose to dig their roots down deep — they thrive and live abundant, fruitful lives. And the very essence of it all, says Ezekiel, is meant to bring healing to the nations.

Yes, but that all seems to be happening in a warm, sunny atmosphere. And Ezekiel has obviously never been to New England in the winter. Rivers freeze over. Trees shiver in the brutal breeze. You know His presence is still real and at work, but especially on "one of those days," there seems little evidence of it  — everything seems to have gone underground. Until...You can take the same route to work, the same walk in your neighborhood, the same hiking path time after time, and suddenly the familiar seems to jump from the background into an explosion of awareness.

 

Last week, while on one of those familiar walks after a few days of rain, I was especially aware of the river. What's this? It was no longer silent and underground, and it was loud, and cause for dancing (well, almost)...

...Lord, thanks for the incredible communication of a rushing river even in the midst of a frigid New England winter day — a reminder that Your presence is always flowing and ready to roar, rise, and break through in places and situations and seasons which, in the natural, may seem "dead" and cold. And most of all, thank You for always communicating Yourself to us even when we're not paying attention, because that's what You do and that's what You want — a relationship, not a religion.

"Even in the wilderness, through confusion and barrenness You are beautiful, God. Even in my brokenness, through this pain I will confess You are always good. Deserts will bloom in the Light of Your love; valleys make room for the river of God...You never run dry!..." — Housefires