This word is submitted by Marsha Smith (marshas@theworks.com)
-----
My River
There is a river that is flowing, It is sweeping past and swirling around all the corners and turns. It is filling the cracks and pouring into deep crevices. It is reshaping and remolding the landscape. It is lifting up debris and junk and sweeping it away. It is plucking up and washing away weeds and roots that I have not planted. What is not anchored in me is lifted up and swept away. What is rough and jagged is polished and made smooth. What is dead and withered is broken off and carried away. What is dirty and dry is saturated and made clean.
My churning and rushing water is a mighty and powerful force. To the ones who are in me it is life, beauty, cleansing, and it brings refreshing. Though tumultuous and very difficult, full of sorrow and great pain for a season, it is a wonderful blessing. To those who are anchored on the rock it is life giving, strength building, faith producing, and life changing. When the raging waters are calmed, those who are mine will find they are still standing with their feet firmly planted in me. They will look around and see the great beauty that was carved out by the force of the river and lying at their feet they will find new treasures carried down to them from upstream. All things will be new and colors will be brighter and the sun will no longer scorch the ground but will bring soothing warmth for the good seeds that remain beneath the soil to spring up and grow into beautiful things. They will rejoice in me and they will be filled with great joy and laughter.
To those who are not mine, those who refuse to turn their hearts to me, those who are anchored in the sand, my river is a great terror, fierce and full of devastation. Their hope and their future, their very life is swept away by my powerful current. Their roots are lifted up and swept away only to be deposited in a heap of useless debris and gathered in a pile to be burned later in the fire. All that is clutched so tightly in their fists is torn away from them and they are stripped naked for all to see. All their wicked deeds are exposed and brought to light.
Who of these will call out to me and be saved before it is too late? Will any hear and listen and come running to me for safety and shelter? Will they forsake their houses upon the sand and build new houses upon the rock? Who belongs to me? Let him declare it now and be separate from them! Who is anchored in me? Let him be solid and not moved! Who believes that my word is true? Let him proclaim it in the streets! Who will listen? Let him come and receive mercy!
Marsha Smith