Waters

I grew up around waters.  When I was a young boy my family would drive, about 45 minutes, to Lake Michigan.  I have pleasant memories of those summer days at the sandy beach.  Just before my twelfth birthday my family moved, about 500 miles north, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  We rented a home and later bought a different home just a few blocks from the Keweenaw Bay of Lake Superior (the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area).

What a great place for a young person!  I spent many-a-day of my youth hunting down the numerous waterfalls of Michigan, hiking through forests near rivers, wading in streams or exploring the picturesque shoreline of Lake Superior.  Often my mind wanders back to the wonders of the waters I grew up around.  

Waters delight in numerous ways:  The sound of the gurgling stream, the rush of the river, the way the water dances as it tumbles along, the quietness of a gently flowing stream, the crash of a wave dashed against the rocks, the rolling of gentle waves into the shore, the delicate touch of a cool, soothing creek...and I could go on.  When we stop to enjoy what God has created we find so many marvelous treasures.

It's easy to find parallels between the adventurous pursuits of my youth and a deep thirst and longing for the presence of God.  The Scripture says, "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God." (I Cor. 2:10)  In Christ, there is a diversity of wonders to explore.  

So much of God is not hard to understand.  How about John 3:16.  God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.  Whoever believes in him inherits eternal life.  That's simple.  Yet, the Scripture says, His paths are beyond tracing out (Romans 11:33).  His ways are beyond human comprehension (Isaiah 55:9).  Indeed, there is much of God to explore.  

Yes, I must admit, sometimes I find the mysterious ways of God frustrating.  I want Him just to make things plain and speak to me clearly.  On the other hand, there is an adventure to searching out the deep things of God, kind of like the pursuit of a beautiful waterfall, tucked away in the forest.  Like the carefree days of my youth, discovering more of God can be much fun.