Just What I Needed.
Earlier this summer, we went to a state park here in Missouri that I’ve been visiting for over 35 years. The park boasts hiking trails, camping, a fish hatchery and a spring-fed river that is stocked with the trout raised at the hatchery.
Every time I enter the park I can recall memories of times spent there with my father, with my brother and now my son. I’ve met some great people there and stayed connected with 1 or 2.
The park itself has changed substantially; the 100-year-old lodge has closed. There’s been a bait shop that’s opened and now closed and been torn down. A new lodge and hotel built.
Along the river, they’ve built a few platforms to allow those who are less agile to get right up to the river and capture some of the same memories I carry with me – like my son’s first catch along the river, him running up the bank rather than reeling in the fish, the whole time screaming at me that he needed some help.
Then there’s the time, like his father, he fell knee deep into that 55 degree water. He’s a bit younger than I was and both of us showed great restraint in the words chosen and the volume used when that water got to our skin.
Yeah, that place has changed so dramatically but it is still exactly what we remember and is exactly what we need as we drive down into the valley. It’s funny but my relationship with God is so similar.
As I’ve grown older and managed to learn a bit more, developing my perspective on our heavenly Father, the relationship I have with Him is exactly how I remember it and always what I need. There have been times in my life I’ve turned my back to Him, quite convinced that I didn’t need Him or even more so, that He wasn’t listening and wasn’t there for me. But just like that park, and more importantly just like that old river, He’s still there for me, exactly how I remembered Him and just what I needed.
If you’ve not had a chat with God in a while, or been to visit Him, take a few moments today to spend a little time with Him. I think you’ll find He’s there waiting and He’ll be just what you needed.
Psalms 73: 23 But I was still always with you! You held my strong hand!