Today, I read a daily devotional from Power to Change. It is written by Shelaine Strom. She talks about how quickly, often without warning, the weather can change on the lake shore where her cabin rests. Even though she knows that place so well, she is still in awe of that phenomenon:

“And so it is in my relationship with the Lord. He is the mighty rushing wind that takes my breath away with His strength and power to heal and change lives. He is the gentle breeze that nudges me to speak or act, giving counsel and direction. He is the quiet voice whispering love and forever-presence in the still moments of an unhurried life. And He is more.”

Tucked in the Texas Hill Country my family has a summer cabin on a bluff overlooking the Guadalupe River. The river can be still and as smooth as glass, or it can dance with glistening ripples like a million microscopic Tinker Bells. Serene, peaceful, refreshing, heavenly… until a sudden roar can bring a wall of water, from a deluge upstream, crashing down on left-behind inner-tubes, kayaks, and lawn chairs.

Destructive? Yes. I have seen it bend mighty cypresses like sipping straws. But the land recovers, and often, the silt left behind replenishes the eroded soil and actually helps the grass to flourish and grow. Underbrush is pruned with one swish of the swirling undercurrent so saplings can stretch their limbs and roots.

In a few days, the flood is over. The milk-chocolate turmoil returns to its peaceful aqua-green, ripply state. The banks again contain the river’s flow. The quickly moving current slows once more to a lazy pace, waiting to be tickled by the breeze.

I cannot control that river. No one except God can, though some foolish folks who build along the banks think they are able to with makeshift dams and terracing. They try, in vain of course, to manipulate it’s path. But, the river has a power all its own. All you can do is respect it and let it do its thing.

I cannot control God. But one thing I have learned, I can cope with life better if I let Him control me instead of trying to manipulate Him to do things my way. Whatever happens in my life–in the quiet times and in the roaring, take-cover tempests–He is at work, eventually bringing it all into good purpose. Even when it seems my life is uncontrollably spilling over the banks, I know His mighty hands are cupping it and directing it’s flow.

May he rule from sea to sea
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.   Psalm 72:8

And my place? Sheltered where He wants me to be, on my knees, in patient awe. I am learning to be more of the spectator of His mighty power in my life, just I have learned to respect the river. Yes, our Lord wants us involved in the directions our lives are to go- we are not puppets on a string.  But to go against the flow of His holy current or the power of His mighty wind is futile, frustrating and foolhardy. Yet, how often do we try, just like the riverbank dwellers? We block His flow in our souls. We build walls to keep Him out. We terrace our payers with conditions and plea bargaining.

Each time I gaze out over that river, or soak my toes in its cool, spring-fed current, its majestic power and grand beauty reminds my soul of the One who created it.  

He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river.   Ezekiel 47:6

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