14 July 2009

After the rain

I went for a walk with the dog (and the camera) this afternoon, when the rains had finally stopped. The air is cool, but fresh, and the colours of everything seem polarized and alive.

What beauty there was in the sky and the lushness of the fields beside our acreage. Faith was still, watching for the ground squirrels that are also finding a place to make themselves a home on our land.

I am reminded of how Jesus told His followers that the animals have found shelter, but He had no place to call home:

Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Matthew 8:20 NIV

Our Lord's did indeed have a home in heaven, but He came to walk our earth so that we might be reconciled to the Father. When He left us, it was with a promise:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14:1-3 NIV


This is beautiful land that I am blessed to inhabit right now, but it truly is not my home. My resting place will be with Jesus and the Father. When I remember that simple yet profound truth I find it easier to release the tight grip I may try to keep on the things that I can see and hold now.

"Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting." 2 Corinthians 4:18 Amplified

3 comments:

sharon said...

You live in a very beautiful part of the world! You are indeed blessed. Funny enough, it could almost have been my home area in Nigeria...but beautiful as earth may be, you are right it is not our final destination.

karen said...

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 1 Peter 2;11

Victoria said...

That first photo is simply stunning! Stunning.