Last week we began looking back through the past two years of the blog’s archives by revisiting on of the first posts: Dry Coastlands, Heavy Rain. This week, we’ll take a closer look at another post from 2017. Stepping further into the theme of the original post, we’ll reflect on what it looks like to recognize and steward the opportunity that we have to encounter the Lord in the middle of what appears to be the doldrum of life.

– November 15, 2017 –

A relentless flood of emails fills my inbox as I muddle through a growing pile of projects at work.  The past couple of months have been busy around the office. Events, trainings, and new initiatives fill my schedule, and even before ten o’clock rolls around I can already sense self-imposed pressure to accomplish as I possibly can. So I decide to take a quick break in the form of bringing some envelopes to the mailbox on the first floor of the office building. As the elevator door close, I find myself alone in perfect quiet. My lungs fill with oxygen as I take a deep breath, grateful for the solitude.

And then I hear that still small voice call out to my heart, “I love you, daughter.” In this moment, I am reminded of His perfect Love and transcendent Presence. The depths of my heart are refreshed.  Wrapped in the arms of Author of Love, I have no need.

This moment, like a thousand others, served a powerful reminder about how important it is to seek the Lord in the routine and ordinary. Seemingly small encounters like that gentle whisper over my heart in the elevator allow me to tap in once again to the Rivers of Living Water that bring refreshment and encouragement (John 7:38). The mundane finds eternal significance as my heart is drawn back to Truth. This Truth and encouragement are found in the rivers depicted in Psalm 1:1-3:

Blessed is the man (whose)…delight is in the Law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.

Prosperity for a tree is only achieved by remaining connected to its source of life: water.  Because of this, trees are entirely dependent upon their root systems. Deep, far-reaching roots, the kind that enable a tree to survive drought and storm, are not developed overnight though. Rather, they take years and even decades to develop. Roots grow incrementally as cells divide.  This process is slow, but the end result is sure. Roots will develop so long as the tree remains connected to the source.

Just as it is crucial for a tree to remain connected to streams of water, so it is paramount that my heart remain connected to the Rivers of Living Water. Connection is maintained and growth is achieved through those mundane aspects of life. And so it is those small moments; filling your coffee mug, walking up a flight of stairs, chopping vegetables for dinner, or waiting in line to check out at the market, that are incomparably important. These small moments are our greatest invitation to grow in truth and encounter His heart (Eph 4:13). Surely there is no greater invitation.