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| Photo by Evgeni Dinev |
I traveled to Missouri this weekend to visit extended family. They happen to live in a scenic mountainous region filled with greenery and pristine deep water springs.
On Saturday I went to a park that housed these springs, some of which the public is allowed to swim in. The rush of the waterfalls and the blue-green color of the water as it flowed by was too tempting for me to pass up. I didn't bring my bathing suit, but I could dip my feet in.
Crunch! Crunch! The silt and gravel along the shore hurt the soles of my feet, but all was forgotten as the first streams of cold water hit my toes and welled up around my ankles. A giddiness swept over me. I was a little girl playing in the water, awed by this mountain oasis that surrounded me with sunlight and peace.
It wasn't until I started to make my way back to shore when I noticed how far I wandered away from it. The rushing water, merely ankle deep, had a current so strong that it gave extra leverage to my steps, pushing me into the deep. My other senses had been too occupied to notice the gravel bed shifting beneath my feet. I could swim, but it was still scary to think that I may have lost footing and plunged off into a deep pocket of the stream.
How similar is this to events in our lives? We see something enticing just up ahead, so we don't notice the huge bump in the road before us. Or we're so enthralled by certain people and environments that we forget why we're there in the first place.
The incident at the springs showed me how God watches over us even in small matters. Psalm 91 tells us "For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone" (verses 11-12).
God knows we humans are liable to veer off the road at times. He wants to rescue us from all pitfalls, even those so minor that they would just cause us to have sore pride. Taken literally, will you suffer fatal injury from stubbing your toe against a stone? Unlikely. Would I have sustained more than an ice cold dousing if I had slipped into a deep pocket of the springs? Probably not, but God kept me from falling prey to a silly mistake.
Knowing that God is a faithful champion in the little things helps me to trust Him with the bigger areas of life.
What small, everyday moments allow you to feel God's closeness? For me, it's hearing the birds chirp near my window.