“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.” Psalm 46:2
I received an overview of rivers as I trekked across southern Idaho for a recent ski day. I crossed the Snake River, which is a slow, wide, and meandering river that is not very inviting. The Snake River is a dark muddy river where I live. It is full of sediment washed from thousands of acres. It cuts into banks of soil in its century’s long search of the perfect course. Energy continually dissipates as soils are consumed along the river bottoms, producing an opaque soup that is not fit to consume.
As I ascend into the mountain reaches, the rivers become narrow and hardened. The soils have long ago been washed away and the underlying rock exposed. Channels lie fixed between mountain ranges. Water flows with vigor and energy. The life-sustaining water tumbling across the rocks of these rivers and creeks glistening in the morning sun, inviting a refreshing taste.
The parables and other imagery of the Bible mixed and mingled as I contemplated these rivers that accompanied me in a weary descent from an enjoyable day spent sliding down a mountain.
I could see my life as a follower of Christ illustrated in the changing of these rivers.
I know that I live mostly oblivious to the majority of the deep spiritual realities all around me – like looking through muddy water. The polluting influences of my flesh have long obscured the truths of the living water of Christ. I get periodic glimpses of fleeting clarity to bolster my hope during those brief periods when my eyes clear of selfishness and the resulting murk of life.
The eroding work of the Spirit has continued through the years to churn away at the banks of my idolatrous world. I meander spiritually through this life as the Spirit relentlessly undermines one unholy edifice after another. It has always been messy when a bank of bad soil finally collapses into the rushing power of the living water. Confusion and questions swirling in the obscured wash of a life being gouged deep.
Yet, the Spirit is faithful. The flowing power of the living water has never diminished and the cleansing flush of the divine always brings clarity through reliance, restoring tranquility to the child, love by God. The seemingly meaningless meandering of a life endlessly eroded is never futile. God is accomplishing a concealed purpose within the sightless depths of our soul.
He is washing the bad soil of our flesh away to reveal the bedrock of faith.
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matthew 7:24)
We are able to have a hope in the future only through a life firmly fixed upon the rock of Christ. We can only find that rock through the hydraulic mining of the Spirit, removing layer after layer of bad soil from our lives. The entire process of sanctification, being transformed from one degree to another into the image of Christ, is a messy and bewildering process. We rarely can see through the muddy confusion of a life being hydraulically washed by the Spirit.
I have often been frustrated by the ostensibly random patterns to life. I have wondered if I had jumped the banks of my purpose. I have wondered why events have transpired in so unexpected ways.
By faith, I know that there is nothing random in the life of an heir of God (Rom. 8:16-17).
Maybe, all the chaos that we don’t understand is evidence to the continued work of God in our lives.
Maybe, the sudden bend in circumstance is another opportunity of the Spirit to remove the bad soil of our lives.
Maybe, the vigorous nature of suffering and disappointment is the living water driving deep into hidden crevasses of our soul to remove the last vestiges of rebellion.
We need to take heart through all trials and temptations because the Spirit of God uses those times to drive us onto the rock of our faith – Jesus Christ. He loves us too much to allow us to build our lives on bad soil. He loves us too much to leave us in our idolatry. He loves us too much to allow us to continue meandering through life in an endless search for contentment.
It is because of love that He continues to wash us clean
– as painful as that might be.
My hope is that every child of God will look back at their lives and see a transformation as distinct as the difference between the Snake River and a mountain creek.
May we be washed clean and Christ exposed in every aspect of our lives.
May our course be gouged deep into the sure foundation of the King of kings.
May the living water flowing through our lives invite others to taste and see that the Lord God is so very good.
May the assurance of our salvation abound through the clarity of a life being continually washed by the word of God.
May our lives be streams that make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for the good work that you continue to do in my life. Thank you for continuing to erode away at my selfishness, disobedience, pride, and discontent. Lord, thank you for repeatedly bringing me back to the sure foundation of your Son, Jesus Christ. Please continue your work in me. Don’t leave me as I am. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
A DEVOTED LIFE 