Water on a Rock

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior. 2 Samuel 22:2-3

I could have sat there for an hour watching the same rock.

I was tucked into my favorite lake-watching spot near the marina. (You don’t think I’m going to tell you where it is, do you????) Though the lake was mostly calm, the ever-moving rhythm of the water pushed swirls and splashes up the side of a big rock sitting in the water directly before me. Again and again the water surged, receded, rose, fell, scurried up, rolled down. I was fascinated by the infinite variety in the water’s movement. At times it would leap up the side of the rock, bouncing determinedly like a kindergartener trying to reach the bottom limb of a tree. Other moments it would contentedly nuzzle the bottom of the rock, then suddenly throw itself wildly over the top like a great fluid hand reaching out of the depths. 

I marveled at the non-sameness of the waves that threw themselves against the rock. Each ripple was different from the one before, different and unique and beautiful in its own way. There were errands to run and dishes to be washed, but I couldn’t tear myself away from the drama of the unchanging rock and the ever-changing water rolling upon it. 

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My life is inundated with differences. 

We've lived here for two years, but I still feel like the new kid on the block. It’s been fascinating to learn about a new place and a new people who are so unlike what I knew before. There is a northerliness about Michigan people, an openness, a speak-your-mindedness that is different from the more reserved Illinois farmers to whom I am accustomed.

But there’s also such a difference between one person and the next. There’s a sameness in the beautiful Polish faces – I’m learning to recognize a Northern Michigan native from fifty paces – but each smiling face brings with it its own heart, its own self. How fascinating it is to watch the people of this new place, to marvel at their differences.

Life continues to offer up newness. New days, new challenges, a new job, a new set of expectations. Each day is startlingly unlike the day that came before it, special in its own way, full of new challenges, new hopes, new things to remember and do and be.

Oh, differences, differences. Each new experience, different from the one before. Each mood different from the last. Each challenge challenging in its own way, each joy tugging at a different corner of the heart. Each day is new, each hour, each moment. Everything is different. Everything is new. New. Different. Pushing, pulling. Tugging, sending, in, out, changing, shifting, different, different, strange.

The only thing that doesn’t change is the rock.

As the waves roll and pulse against it, the big rock sits, steady, calm, unmoved. The water comes; the water goes. The water changes. The rock does not.

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Change is good. I believe that, truly, with all of my heart. But change can overwhelm. New, unmistakable, unpredictable life, can sometimes become unbearable in its change-ness. We fling ourselves forward, struggling to be, to do, to give, to find. Places, things, people change. But the rock who holds us stands firm.

I can’t count on anything being the same as it was a moment ago. Not the money in the bank, or the roof over my head, or the people I care about most. Not the well pump, which may or may not make it another day, or my children, who are growing up far too quickly. If I didn’t have my rock, I would be lost in the changes.

Oh, but I do – I do have a Rock. The God who made me, who loves me, who gave His life for me, is the stronghold of my life. Changeless, solid, sure, He is there. He is there. When I cry out to Him, He gives me the comfort of His love. When I throw myself at Him in a rage, He sets me gently back on my feet. When life overwhelms me with its changing days, my Rock, my God, is there. Is there. Is there. Is there.  

Is there.

First published in the Alpena News, September 20, 2014