Mountains touched in snow cap white. The river is calm today. So am I. Peace. Be still. The Lord has put in the order and “still” it is. Family of geese passing by, proclaiming their joyful shout to their Creator God. So do I! This river often rages. The winds often fierce. So do the wrestlings of my heart and the turbulences of life. God is in control in all seasons, all conditions. When I keep my head UP, I do not sink, because I am looking up to my God Who is looking at me and calling me to hold on. Hold on and cling to His Righteous right hand. He tells me to “fear not” and to trust in Him at all times. His arm stronger than anything. His voice mightier than the fiercest storms and simultaneously gentler than the calm, still, of the current stillness of this river. His voice stills and restores a soul. This voice is heard through the pages of the scriptures, and exercised in the deepest places of a longing soul. The wonder of awesome God Who works through the very storms to draw me nearer to Him. Cling! He delivers, He will deliver again. He hears my cries. He is present. He is with me. He saves. Just hold on.
To experience the contrast, the storm, holding on, and then peace and the calm when He has quieted the storm and calmed my heart to a place of surreal stillness and rest. Serenity. Great is Thy Faithfulness. Obey the strong and Mighty commands of God. “be still and know I am God”. The One Who delivered my soul from the “pit” is the One Who will deliver continually until that great and glorious day where my faith shall be my sight. Final, true, lasting peace and rest in full measure will come when I see Him face to face. Until then, I cherish special moments like this. To view His creation, His design, His order, that all points to His glory. That I might, through all times, hardest of days and joyous of days, point to my Savior, His glory and the glory to come. AMAZING GRACE. I wait expectantly for His return. I praise Him that He restores! Final restoration will come in the Kingdom that awaits for all those Who call upon Him as Lord and Savior.
As I sat viewing His creation, and my beloved was 2 floors down in a workout room, lifting weights and strengthening his body. Last year we visited this place for our anniversary. He was recovering from a Spinal Cord Injury and God had still yet more to do. Sure we yearned for outward strength, but we yearn even more for the inward restoration of our souls. Fast forward to this morning! I am sitting sipping my coffee and journaling, I pray, and ask the Lord to prepare my heart to return to the SERVICE at home He has called me to. He reminding me, it is to HIM and for Whom I ultimately serve. I looked up, and right in front of my eyes as close to the window of this room could be, an Eagle soared by! Come to find out, it soared onward and while my husband was lifting weights, he also saw this majestic flight that passed by his window as well. Two floors away, we were in AWE and experiencing this wonder of wonders-apart yet together. How majestic is our GOD! We reunited to share our stories – I proceeded to read to him, these coinciding verses from the Lord:
“lift up your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? Do you not know, have you not heard? The LORD, the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those WHO HOPE IN THE LORD WILL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH. THEY WILL SOAR ON WINGS LIKE EAGLES, THEY WILL RUN AND NOT GROW WEARY, THEY WILL WALK AND NOT BE FAINT” Is. 40:28-31
How can I possibly articulate how grateful I am to God for the Loving Savior He has been to our lives. There are times I would have totally crumbled, but GOD His strength He gives, as we hold onto HIS Word, His Comfort, His promises. As we thank Him for Who He is and what He is able to do, and then He gives indescribable PEACE and REST in moment such as this, to equip us to carry on. We never know what is going to happen in an instant. What trials will come again in this life. But I know they will come. This is not our home. Heaven is! I do know- He will HELP and DELIVER and be everything we need as we journey on to living with Him and the saints forever.
An incredible anniversary celebration with my beloved. To soak in the gifts of our King. I could feel the prayers of praying friends. God heard these prayers and blessed us both with more peace & rest than we could have even imagined.
He leads me beside still waters and restores my soul…Ps. 23
