Sitting on
my desk is a piece of Lava Rock that I picked up on a hike across a lava flow near
Split Rock Lighthouse on the shore of Lake Superior. Before this, I never
thought about how volcanos helped to build the Great Lakes. Volcanos erupting
are not usually considered a great thing to happen. They can kill thousands of
people, damage property, and even change the climate.
Our lives
have volcanos erupting from time to time. The doctor says it’s cancer, your
spouse says it’s over, your bank says it’s empty, there are thousands more to
be named. Some of these volcanos of life are big and some are small, but all of
them are uncomfortable to endure.
Back to my
walk across the lava flow on a sunny day by Split Rock Lighthouse. I was looking
for colorful stones called Agates. Agates form in air bubbles in the lava. As
the Lava cools water and minerals fill the bubbles and crystalize forming a
very shiny smooth stone. I wanted to collect a few of them. Not only did I find
some agates, but I also found some iron ore and some copper ore. Michigan,
Wisconsin and Minnesota are filled with iron and copper mines; much of the area
was settled because of mining.
Many
wonderful things come up with the lava during eruptions, iron, copper, tin,
gold, diamonds, and lots of pretty rocks. While life’s volcanos bring pain and
difficulty they also bring valuable things to our lives. It could be a life lesson,
a new friend, a deeper faith, a new outlook on life, and many other things.
Some of these we can walk along the lava of life and find for ourselves, for
other we may need help.
Here in the
north-woods people worked together in iron and copper mines to dig the valuable
ore from the lava that brought it to the surface. Some of the ore required
digging deep into the ground to reveal it. It was not easy work, but they got
it done.
Romans 8:28 says
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for
those who are called according to his purpose.” This does not mean that the
volcanos of life are going to feel good or their pain go away. What it means is
that along with the horrible and destructive lava, valuable things have come as
well. Gems of diamonds, agates, gold, iron, copper and tin are all to be found
in the volcano’s flow.
Some of these gems are on the surface and easy to find on
your own, while others will require some help. This is one of the reasons I
believe every Christian should have a church home, a church family. Each of us
will have days when the lava of life is to much for us and we will need someone
else to dig us out. There will be days when together we will find diamonds of
faith only because we dig for them together.
When we find the
gems in the midst of the lava we need to remember they are a gift of God and
thank Him for those little wonders. James 1:17
reminds us; “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or
shadow due to change.”
The volcanos of life will come. What will we have when they
are done? Hot lava, and destruction? Or will we find diamonds, gold, copper,
iron tin and even agates. Anyone can find lava, but if you want the good stuff
you will have to look for it, dig for it, stop and pick it up.
Times June
You would
not know it to look outside today with the ground wet by two days of light
rain, but most of our country is in a horrible drought. In our greatest food
producing state, California, things are getting dangerous. Reservoirs once
filled with what seemed an endless supply of water are already dry or will be
soon. Farmers have not planted crops because they know they will not have the
water needed to bring them to harvest. In the cattle states like Texas ranchers
have sold their herds and shut down because there is not enough water to keep
the herd alive. You would be a rich person if you could have figured out that
people would be paying $2.00 for a bottle of water to drink.
Interestingly,
I read in one of my backcountry hiking books a report that said most people in
the USA live in a constant state of dehydration. People just do not drink
enough water so their body can function correctly. Dehydration affects your
kidney function, muscle function, your cognitive abilities, and even your
ability to fight off diseases.
All this got me to thinking about how many
people live in a spiritual state of dehydration? How many would describe their
spiritual life as dry, lacking energy and empty. This spiritual dehydration
also affects the rest of our life, just as physical dehydration does.
Jerimiah
17:7&8 says “But blessed
is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree
planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat
comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear
fruit.”
Psalms 1:1-3
says “Blessed is the man who
does not walk in the
counsel of the wicked or
stand in the way of
sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But
his delight is in the
law of the LORD, and on his law he
meditates day and
night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does
not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”
The
spiritually dehydrated person’s life is filled with fear during difficult
times, withered and dry leaves as well as a lack of fruitfulness. For the
spiritually dehydrated life does not feel prosperous, like its going somewhere;
life feels like a struggle to stay alive.
I think we
all feel spiritually dehydrated at times. If we take time to reflect on the
passages from Jeremiah and Psalms we find that we are not putting our
confidence or trust in God or His Word. That’s not something to beat yourself
up about but is something you want to change. It is time to refocus our trust
in the Lord and His word.
