The roar of the waterfall

I

Psalm 42

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
³ My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    ‘Where is your God?’
⁴ These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.

⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Saviour and my God.

⁶ My soul is downcast within me;
    therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
    the heights of Hermon – from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
    in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
    have swept over me.

⁸ By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me –
    a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God my Rock,
    ‘Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?’
¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    ‘Where is your God?’

¹¹ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Saviour and my God.

(NIV 2011) 

There is something about the sound of water, whether it be the roar of a waterfall, a babbling brook or the waves crashing against the shore. I have been drawn to the sounds of God's creation of late, the sounds that can be so easily passed over. In the quietness of the morning the pitter patter of rain on the window pane seems to sing a different song than it does when you are running for the car on a wet afternoon. On mornings where it hasn't been raining, they have been few and far between of late in the UK, the dawn chorus breaks through the stillness as the darkness as night turns to day. A different song is sung again by the wind at night as it rustles through the trees and whistles through the valleys. Each song is beautiful in its own right. Each has its own mood as every song has, although perhaps the song we hear depends on our own mood? God speaks loud and clear in so many ways through creation and it's many songs. God continues to speak to us, and reassure us even when we fail to stop and listen. He speaks through the songs of creation even when we sleep.

Blogger's Block: when times are arid - don't ignore the driftwood

 

Have you ever got stuck? We nearly got stuck here in the summer. The narrow streets of Pompero are not very car friendly and if you don't know what you are doing, or should I say where you are going, and take a wrong turn you end up wishing you had stayed at home.

 John and I wondered what on earth we were doing driving down this hill (see photo) trying not to scratch the paintwork of the car. It wasn't the fun we had in mind when we set out. I often seem to suffer from bloggers block, by this I mean writers block but of the blogging variety. I am sure it isn't just me that suffers from this condition. I seem to have no problem twittering, or talking for that matter, but I settle down to write something and... well... nothing... In place of all the words that have circled round my head there is a void...

 

An arid, lack of words.  Where once was a waterfall of words in its place there is nothing. The tide has gone out. Bloggers block remains. I am forced to look at the driftwood, the pieces that have been washed-up in the previous tide. 

Most people would not even look at the driftwood but to do so means missing out on unexpected beauty and buried treasure.

Words that have been cast out, and ideas forgotten, are sometimes just what we are looking for. Is this recycling? Is this art? Is this the direction we needed. Is this God?

Sometimes we think we will scratch the paintwork of our lives and try and take a different path to the one God has destined us to take. It is easy to panic and think we are stuck when actually we just need to take a leap of faith, or just keep going. Our journey with God is not always an easy one but if we allow him to take the steering wheel of our lives we will not scratch the paintwork or even fall off the proverbial cliff edge. We journey through times of plenty and we journey through the desert. The wilderness makes us stronger, it makes us watchful; or at least it should. Tides ebb and flow that is natures course. Don't ignore the driftwood that you see along the way. Stop and gaze on its beauty and listen to sound of the sea. God uses everything and is in everything  if we care to look. 

Listen do you hear it? 

The flow of words... Ideas... Vision... 

The flow of God's Spirit.

Psalm 42

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, O God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
³ My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
⁴ These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
    leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
    among the festive throng.

⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and ⁶ my God.

My soul is downcast within me;
    therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
    the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
    in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
    have swept over me.

⁸ By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me—
    a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God my Rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?”
¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”

¹¹ Why are you downcast, O my soul?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

 

(NIV1984)