I was relaxing riverside at Pedernales Falls State Park when my sons and husband decided to walk up river to a deeper spot to swim and skip rocks.
I took in my surroundings and praised my awesome creator. God- thank you for this beautiful place. Thank you for this lovely day. Let me feel your presence.
I walked along the river bank and began to discover the most unique and beautiful rocks I have ever seen. As I was collecting them and admiring their diverse color, shape, and size, I felt God speaking to my soul. This is what He shared with me:
Every rock is beautiful in its own unique way. I didn’t know its story, but I marveled in its beauty. God made each one become magnificent through an intentional process I would never fully know. Each rock had to go through our sovereign God’s weathering process to get to my admiring view.
River flooding moved rocks to God’s desired destination. Droughts stood them still; exactly where God wanted them to be for His designated time period. Storms aggressively pushed the rocks further from their origin point. Intensity and hard conditions transformed their color and shape. People that God chose propelled each rock forward; skimming and splashing. God spent many years weathering these rocks and He gave them to me as a gift to my soul on that camping trip. I clearly heard His message: I’m doing the same weathering to you and for you.
I appreciated these rocks and their lesson so much, that I took them with me. I wanted a physical reminder of God’s transformative beauty. When I got home and removed the rocks, they looked different. They weren’t quite as vibrant as they were in their element. Thank you for that reminder too God. Their current appearance was due to the absence of water. Being dry and stagnant didn’t remove the beauty of each rock. It merely kept me from clearly seeing and appreciating it for what it truly looked was.
This experience left me with several reflections. Anything beautiful or strong about me is directly from God. It is my loving Father who is using challenging and often uncomfortable circumstances to train me to trust and depend on Him more. The hardship and trials I face as a woman of God, wife, mother, daughter, sister, teacher, coach, and friend are meant to grow closer to God as He transforms me to be the best version of me; not for my glory, but for His. God continues to lovingly train me, you, and all of His children seeking to grow in Christ. He sees the beautiful end result. We need to remember that daily, no matter what weather we experience. We can trust that because our Creator is perfect and sovereign, there is goodness and beauty in all of the weathering processes in life.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2-4 NIV
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