Wind, Waves, and Mountains

Standing at the base of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa brings humbling feelings. Truth be told, standing at the base of any formidable mountain range may produce the same effect- one simply feels small, perhaps even in significant in nature’s landscape, but not in God’s.

How does the Creator of the universe manage to keep His eyes on me and the small furry rodent with the lines and dashes across its tiny back? He watches it safely cross the path of pedestrians, steadily climbing the mountain path, and He watches my journey as well- one seemingly achingly slow step after ponderous step.

At the precipice of the mountain cliffs, God promises to hide me in the shelter of His wings. Despite the howling winds, and the fragile rock cleft, like Elijah, I am safe, and can rest there until I hear the next instruction of where to go. Even as I summit the mountain’s crest, He is there too waiting to reveal its grand and majestic panoramas and His ever constant word, “Be Still and know that I am God.”

I realized something yesterday, like a tourist so busy taking pictures, merely to show that she has been there, I too can be simply going through the motions of life without ever really being present, experiencing the here and now. So, I slow down, put the camera away, and just stand in the awesomeness of who God is  as revealed in nature . I allow my mind’s camera to open its shutter and take in the beauty that only the Supreme Artist can create and then take its beauty and lessons into my spirit. I will remember these pictures best even when I misplace the photos or they are destroyed. The wind seems to caress my souls  again with these words, be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted the earth and the heavens.

His care for me is as constant as the tide that comes into the beach, its roaring waves silenced as it reaches the shore. O’ that my soul would find its rest in God alone and be still its beating, and simply lie prostrate before His presence as the sea’s waters lap upon the soft sand of the beach.

The penguins clean and preen comfortable in their dark black and white suits. O' that my soul would take peace in the fact that I am clothed in the righteous of Christ alone and need do no more than preen to show His handy work, and clean off the debris that would destract from His glory and beauty.

Maybe the rocks strewn across this beach, the ugly masses of seaweed, and lumpy rubbery vines which resemble so much like nature’s debris after an upset stomach in the ocean are simply here to remind me not to turn Jonah. You know, come up with my own plan. Despite the rocks' bulk and placement, I can still walk upon the beach. Just as in life, obstacles do not have to stop me.

 

So many beautiful lessons in nature lie.
 
A Contemplative Today- MJ