The Pond

We live in the country on a 80 acre homestead and I enjoy praying as I walk our land. I believe God has given this piece of property to us for a purpose, as well as wanting us to enjoy living here. One day as I was walking and praying I was asking God what His purpose for this place is to be. I want to know His plan so I can agree and pray it will come about.

I decided to walk to my daughter's house by way of the pond. You can see the pond from my house in the distance, but I had not walked around it for a while, so I was shocked when I got close up. I was aware we had not had rain for a while, and were in a drought, but I was still shocked to see how very low the water was. When you live in town, and your water is piped in, and all you have to do is turn on the faucet to get water, you don't think about what the farmers in the country are dealing with during a drought.

Now , because the level of water in the pond was so low, you could see the tree roots out of the water. And, you could also see all the limbs and branches and "crap" that is in the pond also. Stuff that is normally below the water. Stuff that has always been there, but because the pond was previously full of water--it was hidden.  The Lord spoke to me that this pond was like us individually and also like the Body of Christ. There are ugly, destructive things in all of us that we will not deal with until dry times come. The good thing about a drought is that it forces us to have to see and thus deal with all the junk that is hidden down deep within us. Things we don't see when times are good or maybe things we did not realize were even there. And not only can we now see this stuff, but others can also see it. When the water dries up, everything that is in the pond is visible. There are things hidden within each of us that God wants us to deal with. And many times, we wait until we go through dry times in our lives, when the water is withheld--before we are willing to deal with them.

God spoke to me that this pond needed cleaned out, just as each of us need cleansed, and just as the Body of Christ needs cleansed of all the junk that has accumulated in it over time. And so, He had me get my rake and begin to reach into the water and pull out the limbs and branches and pop cans and dead trees that had fallen into the water over time. And to throw them back up over the pond bank where they could eventually be burned. It was dirty, tedious , hard work. But what God was having me do in the natural, was symbolic of what was also needing to be done in the spiritual realm. We ourselves, as well as the Body of Christ, is in need of some "junk" being cleaned out of it. God wants a vessel He can work through. He wants us to be a House of Righteousness. We must be willing to let Him deal with those things that we have in us that need to go, those things that are displeasing to
Him, those things that we have allowed to remain in us thinking no one else can see. When the rains come again, the pond will not only be functional , it will also be beautiful. It will be a place where others can come and find "rest for their souls." A place of peace and tranquility.

Recently, much activity has taken place around the pond. The rains have come and the pond is once again filling up with water. To look at it now , you would have no indication that it had so much debris in it. Neighbors have brought their families over to fish and have enjoyed being able to sit under the shade trees (that have been trimmed) and to walk up to the waters edge without having to worry about snakes in the tall grass (the grass has been mowed and weed-eated). We have enjoyed taking the paddle boat out. I have watched the deer in the evenings play around the pond as they go looking for a drink. I have seen my grandson's "pet turkey" as well as a duck enjoying the waters edge. We have pitched a tent down by the pond and watched the moon and stars overhead and listened to the frogs and other night sounds heard around the pond.

Am I done working around the pond? I have a feeling it will be a continual process. But God keeps using the pond to show me things that relate to everyday life. I continue to ask Him to open my eyes and unplug my ears so I can see and hear in a spiritual way, instead of only in the natural. If we will all do this , I believe He will speak many things to us and show us many things, and He will do it using everyday wonders like a pond.