| Psalm 66:8-12 (MSG)"Bless our God, oh peoples! Give him a thunderous welcome! Didn't he set us on the road to life?...He trained us first, passed us like silver through refining fires...pushed us to our very limit...Finally he brought us to this well-watered place." Psalm 66:8-12 I read this verse this morning, and I loved the way it was worded. "...Finally he brought us to this well watered place..." A well-watered place typically doesn't seem so amazing unless it's something you've been without...something you've been missing and craving. A well-watered place is probably only truly appreciated when it's something that you're not used to....otherwise it's a taken advantage of, well-watered place. It reminded me of my college years. I never appreciated Holidays and summers more than I did when I was in college. After a grueling semester of balancing classes with work, papers and projects, the drive home from the last exam left me with feelings of great achievement, satisfaction, accomplishment....and freedom. When the summer had finally arrived, all of what seemed to be hard...grueling...frustrating and overwhelming at times...actually seemed worth it. I wouldn't have been tempted to say that, while struggling through it, though. Nope. How many times did I question the purpose of one paper, complain about the 'pickiness' of a certain professor, whine about how tired I was, and just simply yearn for a break. I do realize that summer vacation is a pretty crude example of a Well-Watered place...but it paints such a simple and clear picture for me. I mean, this verse is talking about our lives...and we should be able to apply it to so many area s of REAL LIFE: “...didn't he set us on the road to life...” and then he says ”…first..." Aha...but ‘first’, my friends, FIRST, he trains us...he molds us...he burns us and makes us uncomfortably hot, so that we can adjust more easily to the shape and purpose He intended for us....and it hurts...it's hard...you don't think you can take anymore, and just when you think, THAT'S IT...I'm done...I can't do it anymore...He takes you to that Well-Watered place...and boy, it just never looked more beautiful...it never seemed as lush and breathtaking. The air never smelled so fresh, the breeze never felt so soft and soothing...and the water….it never quenched your thirst quite as much as it does now…. So…what’s He training you for right now…what are you being shaped into? What is it, in your life, that just seems to be taking everything out of you? Let it! Keep going…just a bit longer…don’t worry. Just when you feel like you can’t take anymore…He’ll fill you right back up again…and when it happens…you will find that it was so worth it! All of it…all the pain, the struggle, the uncertainty….If you had not been so in need for a break, the water just would not have tasted so good! So… “Bless our God, oh peoples! Give him a thunderous welcome! Didn’t he set us on the road to life?... |
