When we rode bikes through Zion National Park, I was overcome with its beauty. The vast mountains, the blue skies, the unique shrubbery. The streams we would catch glimpses of. So much to take in.
There were stretches of the ride when the sun beat down on us unmercifully. The heat out west is truly like an oven. I felt at times like my skin was baking off. I could feel the hardening of my crows feet as I squinted my eyes from the sun.
And then we would reach a bit of shade. The mountain would stretch high up to the sky, blocking the sun’s heat and bringing blessed relief from the elements. My eyes would relax and adjust to the shade. The beauty of the mountains and sky and landscape would be so pronounced and crisp. My skin would even feel cool.
These were my favorite parts of the path. I felt like I was in another world. A calm and quietness would settle over that whole section of the ride.
In life, we often feel the heat of our circumstances. The relentless worries, the frustrating people we can’t control, the anxiety of health issues, the fears that accompany change, and more can make us feel like we’re going to pass out from the elements God has put us in. We want relief. We want it now. We tire ourselves out trying to figure out how to solve the problem.
Josh and I have been in a season like this. And we are exhausted. In many ways I feel like a sponge that has been left in the sun—hard, useless, ineffective, tired, so very dry.
But I know even a few drops of water would revive an old sponge and make it useful again, filled to over flowing.
I read Isaiah 32 this morning:
1-2 “Behold a king will reign righteously and princes will rule justly. Each will be like a refuge from the wind and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry country, like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land.”
Even if on this earth God chooses to keep this area of concern that Josh and I have dry, one day He will rule and reign in righteousness. And He will be the spring of water that brings refreshment. He will be the shade of relief and safety. And of course He has done this for us as we spend time in His Word and in prayer and trusting Him with our circumstances. We have been refreshed in the Lord. But I long for the ultimate day of peace and life and joy!
It’s His reign.
It’s His righteousness that brings refreshment, shelter, growth, life and health. He brings the calm and quietness we long for. One day.
Isaiah 32: 15-18
“Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is considered as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness will abide in the fertile field. And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, and in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places;”
May it be so! Even today.