between beginning and end…
It seems even the flowers in my garden have better sense than I do when it comes to rest. They know when to close their petals for the night, while I’m still busy trying to squeeze in one more thing.
I think nature could teach us a lot about rest, if we stopped long enough to pay attention.
This is a Day 14 of The Rhythm of Rest series (Write 31 Days challenge).
A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace and someone loving you is grace.
Frederick Beuchner
Image sourced here.
We often see things a certain way, but I’ve noticed that God tends to like changing our perspective. Judi’s post is a great reminder.
Just when you think it should all go smoothly – something comes to bring you to the wilderness.
Moses – had a great God promotion and got to wander with complainers for 40 years.
Jesus – God says, “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Next up, 40 days and extreme temptations.
Joseph – loved so deeply by his father, his jealous siblings throw him in a cistern then sell him and he ends up in prison.
David – specially chosen to serve and sooth the King, ends up running and hiding for his life when same King seeks to kill him.
These men were highly blessed and full of promise. The forming and training for the great things to come happened in the wilderness.
Gives me a very different perspective when times feel like a wilderness way.
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the…
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We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words – to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.
C.S. Lewis
I took this photo during the weekend. Even though the landscape is starting to be revived by the autumn rains, after continuous drought in previous years, many trees have died from sustained lack of water. You don’t have to look very hard to find the skeletal remains of once-majestic trees stretching their fingers into the sky.
When I look at this photo, I am reminded that there is no life without water. No physical life without natural water. No spiritual life without living water.
And the angel showed me [John] a pure river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, coursing down the centre of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let each one who hears them say, “Come.” Let the thirsty ones come – anyone who wants to. Let them come and drink the water of life without charge.Revelation 22:1-2, 17
Flourish! 