4.6.20
Maddie Lillicrap
Isaiah 30:19-22
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like filthy rags and say to them, “Away with you!”
A couple of weeks ago, I was at the beach for spring break with my family. We’re always together playing some kind of game, and we’re the kind of people who aren’t good at losing. So, after losing a couple rounds of cards, I decided to step outside for a break. I took a seat on the porch with a perfect view overlooking the pool, and having my Bible in hand, I opened up to Isaiah 30. As I read, I took in the view of the pool. The water above gradually flowed toward the pool below it, effortlessly descending into a waterfall. I listened to the water falling into itself as I fell deep into the Word.
A few days later, I came across another waterfall. I left the house for fresh air and ventured through the woods behind my house. I began to run until I ran out of breath, which wasn’t long, and as I stood on a bridge waiting to catch my breath, the sound of raging water from the creek below me grabbed my attention. Suddenly, my deep breaths could be heard no more as the sounds of the waterfall spoke over my own gasps. And then I read Isaiah 30 again.
I think it’s cool how God can bring us back to something if we don’t take notice of it the first time. He’s telling me that there’s something about this waterfall…
When I read Isaiah 30:19-22, I have this image of a waterfall. It’s something where I see our words are the many drops that fill a body of water. And as I look unto the waterfall, I can see the Lord; He’s taking every breath, every word, every cry- everything- into Himself. He is the body of water we fall into, and He catches everything that comes to Him in this waterfall of grace.
I think of tears that fall from our weary faces- if one drop falls, you wouldn’t notice. But the more our cries for help, our tears of frustration, and prayers of lament flow, the greater the waters fold over one another into something the Lord notices. He takes notice of us. While we cannot see the weight in our single tear or cry, He chooses to give us a way of seeing how every drop magnifies into this overwhelming sight- a waterfall. He allows us a glimpse of what He sees that we, too, can see and make sense of. He wants to see us move so He can show us where He moves.
We see all that is moving in the waterfall below, yet He remains in control. No longer will we hold onto whatever was holding us- we release it into His open waters.
The waterfall is a roaring body of power and might. It’s a source of life and an ever-moving source of grace that is found in His creation.
So, we run to the waterfalls. He proclaims there is provision in His holy water, and this is what we seek. How beautiful, how marvelous that what we seek is His creation and provision! When we go to the water, we wade in from the river below or jump from the cliffs above. What if when we go to the water, we bring with us what has long troubled us? And what if when we run to the water, what falls in is our hearts, trusting again in his nature of saving and catching us? What if whatever was our “idol” crashes into defeat? What brought us here falls in the water, and the water, instead, fills us with what is right.
He says we will see. He promises we will hear. He shows us where to go. He speaks us into motion just like a waterfall that rages on full of life.
When we cry out, He responds, ready to catch us in the {water}fall.
Go to the Father. Run to Him. Bring whatever you have and all you are to the Lord. Just speak up. Because, “As soon as He hears, He will answer you.” Let’s hear what He has to say. And maybe, just maybe, He will bring you to see a few waterfalls of your own.
Today, and everyday, the Father says to you, “This is the way; walk in it.” So, will you? Will you choose to walk in His way?
Here’s a song that’s been playing through my mind as I write this for y’all 🙂
“River of Grace” – Christy Nockels
HHYG 