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Dear Covenant Family,
In the space of a few days last week, I went from admiring the powerful cascade of tons of water at Niagara Falls to lamenting several inches of standing water in our basement upon returning home. Water gives life, but it can also destroy, damage, and endanger. In our case the basement sump pump stopped working while we were gone, but other homes suffered damage from torrential downpours and sewer backups. Storms seem more frequent lately, or less predictable, or something. All I know is that the garbage crew had a lot of wet moldy carpet to pick up in our neighborhood, again.
Psalm 42 alludes to the cosmic waters of creation, and perhaps also to the sources of the Jordan River in northern Israel. The psalmist feels overwhelmed by these waters, like Jonah crying out from the belly of the whale; “In my trouble I called to the Lord and was answered; from the belly of Sheol I cried out, and You heard my voice. You cast me into the depths, into the heart of the sea. The floods engulfed me; and your breakers and billows swept over me.” (Jonah 2:3-4)
The thing is, sometimes we don’t know how to feel about God. We are grateful for the perceived answers to prayer, but mystified by life circumstances that feel overwhelming. Which makes water an apt metaphor - life giving, overwhelming, dangerous, salvific.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I were driving west on 90 when we encountered a traffic jam. Cars were backed up for miles and when we finally made it through, a boat would have been more helpful than a Honda. Another weird weather day, and a chance to remember God’s promise in Isaiah 43:2-“When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you….”
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