Reminder from a Loon

I watched a loon navigate a stream today. 

There is a stream that runs behind this house in Colorado.  Because of the late spring snows, all of the rivers in the area are running very high and fast - even the little stream behind the house.  It does not often have "white water" in it.  But this summer is different.  It is swirling. tumbling, rushing headlong down the mountain.
And today there was this loon.  At least, I think it was a loon.  After checking my "Birds of the Rocky Mountains" book, that is my best determination.  The common loon - Gavia immer - "a serene symbol of wilderness".  

I marveled at his ability to navigate the fast water.  It was rough with great potential to take him under.  He was perched on top of the water and the water was carrying him downstream.  When he came to a section that was particularly rough, he stretched his neck up, beak to the sky, and rode the rough water until he had safely passed through it. 

Our lives have so many rough places - places that have the potential to take us under.  Are you in just such a place right now?  How are we to navigate through tumultuous times?  Even Jesus acknowledged the surety of struggles when He was talking about  our tendency to worry over what might happen.  He said in Matthew 6:34 that "each day has enough trouble of its own."  We can all give testimony to the reality of that statement!   So how do we navigate?

I think we perhaps need to take a lesson from the loon.  Keep your head and eyes up ...

Hebrews 12: 1 - 3   Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before hi endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

2 Corinthians 4: 17 - 18        For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

The loon knew by instinct how to navigate through the rough water.  Head up - beak to the sky - and ride through it.  We, too, can know how to navigate the rough places in our lives - not by instinct but by instruction.  Heads up - eyes fixed on our Lord - and ride through the hard place. 

I love the chorus that says,

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.

So - heads up, my friends - eyes fixed on Jesus - and the rough waters you must navigate will grow strangely dim in the light His glory and grace. 



Thirst

My home town of Houston is suffering from drought this summer.  We did not experience the usual spring rains that keep the trees green and the flowers in bloom.  Therefore the ground is hard, plants are not growing ... in fact, they are dying unless someone is consistently watering them.  Trees are reaching that critical point where the reserves of their own moisture have been exhausted.  Without water they will die.  Without water, growth and life and beauty cannot exist. 

Listen to Jesus as He speaks with a woman at a water well in Samaria.  The words are found in John 4: 13 - 14.   Everyone who drinks this water will be thristy again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.      

Jesus uses the same picture in John 7: 37 - 39:  On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believe in Him were later to receive. 

Are you thirsty?  Do you ever see yourself as one of the plants that are withering because of a lack of water?  How is your spirit?  Are you growing?  Jesus knows that we all long for fulfillment and satisfaction.  And Jesus knows where that satisfaction comes from.  So He uses the image of thirst ... of longing for water.  And then He lets us know that the way to quench the thirst is through Him and His Spirit. 

Are you applying the water of life, the person of Jesus to fill you and satisfy you?  It is a daily process.  As many of us take breaks from our usual routines this summer, we must be vigilant to not take a recess from spending time with our Lord ... listening to Him ... being quiet in His presence ... taking in His Word.  We do not have to experience a drought in our soul ... apply the water of the person of Christ to your soul today ... and tomorrow ... but begin today. 

Near the end of the Bible is a splendid passage that thrills me every time I read it.  In fact, it is one of the passages I have written on an index card to keep in the forefront of my mind.  Thrill with me to these words and this promise ...

The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!"  And let him who hears say, "Come!"  Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.     Revelation 22:17

A free gift ... the water of life ... a gift from God.   Thank you Lord! 
(And I pray for rain in south Texas)