The Strength of a Promise Not Forgotten
We live close to one of the western hemisphere’s most important stopovers for migrating birds. The Great Salt Lake is a critical link in the Pacific Flyway between North and South America and the GSL Shorelands Preserve is 4400 acres of protected habitat along its eastern shore.
We went one Fall knowing the birds had already flown to warmer climates, but the quiet beauty and wide boardwalk trail that meanders a mile though the wetlands were enough to make it a grand adventure.
The plants and grasses had grown tall enough to hide the walkway and the children in our group wondered if we were going to be able to reach the big tower. We told them the best way to find out was to start walking and stick to the path. Trusting us, they moved forward, and as they walked, more of the boardwalk would reveal itself as it curved in and out of cattails taller than their heads.
Once they climbed the tower, they could look out and see the expansive boardwalk in both directions: where we had come from and where we were going. It was easy to see from that height yet almost impossible to see it from ground level with the current conditions.
Most of our journey through this life is with a limited view of our future. There are twists and turns and unfamiliar roads we will need to walk if we are ever going to get to our desired destination.
We can’t grow and learn if we refuse to move.
But the unexpected hardships that greet us as we round a corner do not really have power to destroy us, no matter how devastating they might seem.
Because there is One who sees the full and complete path of our life and has promised that:
“…all things work together for good to them that love God.”
Not some things. Not just the good things. ALL things.
And God keeps His promises. All of them.
If we believe that, then we will grow in character and empathy and a truer understanding of things as they really are. We will be wiser and kinder and be the recipient of greater Light. We will not be paralyzed by fear as we travel a new, perhaps unwanted, path. We will hold to another great truth that Paul taught Timothy:
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Kellie
November 1, 2021 @ 10:38 pm
Oh, I have never taken that boardwalk, and now I want to.
Mary
November 2, 2021 @ 8:59 pm
Its so awesome Kellie! This time of year you have it pretty much to yourself. Take the kids and pack a lunch. We walked and explored and took pictures and came back to the car and had a little picnic. It was a GREAT day!