Smoothed By The River

Consider a stone in the river....

 ^"And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:5)

I have always been somewhat of a rock hound.  One of my favorite trips was traveling out west with a group of students from ORU.  We were lead by our God-fearing Earth Science teacher.  What an experience!  It was wonderful.  We started out our mornings with breakfast and worship and spent our days digging in the dirt or hiking canyons.

Just a glance at a river rock today, made me start thinking of many Summer vacations to Colorado with my family.  We would put our feet in the cold water and search for our favorite river rocks.  They were a rainbow of color, and the closer to the middle of the river, the smoother the stone. 

Even though rocks have different components, they all start as part of a larger mass.  Over time, the shaking of the earth or the working of water wedging in and freezing cuts them apart from their original abode.  In the same way, we were all born in sin nature.  The shaking in our lives and the love of God wedges in and causes us to want to separate from our same old sinful patterns and lusts of the flesh. 

^"When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners...(Romans 5:6,8 NLT)
God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."

What happens to the rock that is pulled away from what it has known as home?  That rock can remain in a pile with the other rocks and be pulverized by the rocks falling on top of it...OR it can allow itself to be smoothed and carried by the rain.  Some of the rocks end up in the river.  At first, the rocks are jagged and show the scars of their separation. 

As the rock rests in the tumbling waters of the stream, it is smoothed all around.  The stone allows the water to pass over it with less and less effort - fewer jagged barriers and a smoother surface of the water.  When the rock is picked up, it can be tossed across the surface of the river and skim the surface.

So can we...allow God's love to carry us to constant refreshing.  The life of sin and shame become worn away by the torrent of His tremendous love and grace.  He loves us that much.  We can tie on the shoes of peace and walk on the water with Him!

"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." (Romans 5:3-5  NLT)