The cushy beds in the tent trailer in Convict Lake’s campground claimed my son-in-law and grandson as I rose alone at early dawn to entice the trout in the creek. Yes, I caught a few. But better than the rainbows was the reminder of God’s patience. Mountain mornings bring a freshness unique to them. I enjoy the newness as I ride my Honda to work most mornings, but being immersed in God’s world makes it more vivid, more encompassing, more deep.
“Mountain Mornings”
The Sierras slumber
quiet
hushed
until shafts of sunlight shatter the stillness
The rising sun reveals
mountain crags
shadows showing contours
of a soaring thunderbird
on a chiseled rock face
The chill of early morn
slowly eased
as bone-chilling gives way
to life-giving warmth on a cheek
A morning
ushered in by a robin’s song
greeted by a wandering doe
each seen
by a solitary fisherman
on a Sierra stream
Signs
all signs
of God’s enduring hope
A fresh start. Yes, I know how each day begins the rest of our lives, that each is new, brief, and to be cherished. How each day allows us to move beyond past mistakes with a somewhat clean slate. But on this morning, the impact went deeper.
You see, each day is another example that God still has hope for us. That we haven’t ruined things beyond repair. Both for us, plural, and for us, singular. Once, God destroyed nearly all the world in hope that a fresh start would be different. OK, I’m old, but not even I was around to see how bad those days were, but ours might be able to compete.
God’s hope for us endures. I start most days reading the news, and usually it doesn’t thrill me. Corporately and individually, we often fall far short of what God hopes for us. But he continues hoping. Far more than I would. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
My patience, and my hope for others, has some definite limits, and people often reach them quickly. Yes, that’s true confession time, not personal bragging time. But I’m struck with how each day reminds us that God hasn’t given up on us.
Kick Starting the Application
What in your life likely disappoints God the most? Have you thought of it in those terms before? What keeps you from making changes to decrease God’s disappointment?
How would your walk with Jesus be different if you fully grasped that God still has hopes for you?
If hope is a good thing, what can you do in this next week to increase the amount of hope in the world? If you try this, can you let me know how it went?