The Place of Quiet Rest

 

Isaiah 28:12  God has told his people, "Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here.  This is a place of quiet rest."  But they would not listen.

 

Matthew 11:28  Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for you souls."

 

Hebrews 4:6,7  So God's rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God.  So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today...

"Today, when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts."

 

 

A Walk to Muddy Creek

I walked up the trail to Muddy Creek this morning.  It was 9:45am and just light outside.  The light was soft,  new snow was falling, and at 20 degrees who could pass up such a beautiful morning.

I don't venture up the Muddy Creek Trail alone at other times of the year. The creek is loud and I've seen too many bear tracks. It would be a fearful thing to accidentally come across one lounging in the creek because it didn't hear me approaching. This time of year however, the bear are all having a lovely siesta and I like to take advantage of it.

I got to the trail head and found that the previously snow-packed path (thanks to snow machine traffic), this morning was soft with new snow.  As I journeyed up, it was more like climbing a West Michigan sand dune than traipsing up an Alaska trail and my legs felt sluggish.

It was a quiet walk except for a few birds chirping, heard but unseen, probably the Chickadees and Magpies that stick around through the winter.  As I finally came to the top of the hill and neared the creek, I suddenly stepped in slush.  "That's odd," I thought as I kept walking, a bit more carefully now.  Then I almost lost my balance as my slushy wet boot hit ice under the snow.  Now walking even more cautiously, I arrived at the creek's edge which had once again become slush.

Muddy Creek was frozen over and stangely heaved up across the popular crossing section.  It looked like a small frozen dam.  I wasn't sure if the creek's running water underneath found it easier to flow down part of the path than down the creek itself because of the dam or if water from under the ground was being forced up as it has been in many other areas around here this winter.  More than likely some of both was going on.   

The ever changing scenery is one of the things I love about Alaska. You can find new things in old places.  God's power and creative beauty are so clearly seen.  The ordinary is amazingly extraordinary when I take the time to look around.

The Struggle

 

The king of Assyria had captured Samaria.  He exiled the people of Israel and then replaced them by transporting groups of his own people to resettle the towns of Samaria.  After the LORD sent lions to kill some of the new residents, the king commanded one of the exiled priests of God to return to Samaria to live there and teach them how to worship the LORD.

 

 Kings 17:32-34,41   These new residents worshiped the LORD...And though they worshiped the LORD, they continued to follow their own gods according to the religious customs of the nations from which they came.

And this is still going on today.  They continue to follow their former practices instead of truly worshiping the LORD and obeying the decrees, regulations, instructions, and commands he gave the descendants of Jacob, whose name he changed to Israel.

...to this day their descendants do the same.

 

Genesis 32:28  "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

 

How much am I still a person who "struggles with God and with men?"  Do I follow God partially but also follow my own desires instead of truly worshiping the LORD and obeying Him completely?

 

Romans 7: 24,25  "Oh, what a miserable person I am!  Who will free me from this life that is dominated be sin and death?  Thank God!  The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord."

 

The Sun

It has been almost two months.  Two months with no sunshine to hit the face or warm the bones.  On clear days I see the sun hitting the mountain tops and just recently a few of the houses that rest higher up.  I am happy for these lucky souls who now have a few minutes each day to bask in the blazing warmth coming in their windows, but if I'm totally honest with myself, my face may be a bit green.

 

 I have a geranium cutting from a sweet neighbor.  It is nestled in water, sitting in a large colorful vase my daughter Jaime painted for me.  I have it in the kitchen window to give it as much light as possible since the sun stubbornly sits so far south and refuses to peek over the mountains.  I have been babying it all winter, filling the water faithfully, plucking off dead brown leaves,  and even leaving the kitchen light on above it during the dark days and nights.  It looks sick.  The leaves, once full and dark green are now a light green-yellow color; each sparsely placed and strangely turned to face the window. 

 

But it is not dead.  There is actually a small lone bright-red flowering shoot awkwardly coming off the stem.  I can't wait to see how it responds after those first few days when the sun peeks over the mountains for a couple of minutes .

I really want it to make it. 

 

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