This is the view overlooking Coral Bay, Saint John VI. It looks amazing from this spot. But when you drive down to the town, you can still see significant damage from Hurricane Irma one and a half years later. Damage to buildings, abandoned cars, dead trees.
How comforting that God not only sees the big picture, God is with us in each moment and knows whatever we may be suffering.
This photo was taken on our last morning in Jamaica. This spot is one of my favorites at Galina Breeze, especially to watch the sunrise. We had a couple of days with beautiful sunrises, then 3 or 4 in a row that were very cloudy (ie, you couldn’t even see the sun rise). On our last day, I remember looking out our window and commenting to my wife that it should be a good sunrise because there were no clouds overhead. When we got down to the “beach”, there was this dense haze on the horizon. I can’t remember ever seeing so much haze there before.
After we got home, I began wondering if the haziness had anything to do with the winds. Every morning, it had been unusually windy. So much, that it was actually comfortable (whereas I usually sweat through breakfast). A quick internet search found that the source of the haze was …(dramatic pause)… dust from Africa. Blowing across the Atlantic sea into the Caribbean.
I certainly didn’t need a reminder of the power of the wind, but it was a nice reminder of the positive effects of the wind. God’s spirit is described as wind many times in the Bible. I like to think of the Holy Spirit as a cooling breeze. Refreshing.
We were in a relatively small boat down in the Virgin Islands when we saw this storm in the distance. It reached us a few minutes later, but fortunately, we didn’t get too wet.
I must confess, I have mixed feelings about rain and storms. I know that we need rain. Thousands of people die each year around the world due to drought. On the other hand, we’ve recently seen the effects of too much rain with flooding and crops being ruined. There are many things in my life with obvious issues involving too much, too little. Like work. Too busy and I feel overwhelmed. Not busy enough and I get bored. Or people. When I have no one to interact with, I feel lonely. In a large gathering, I sometimes feel the need to find a quiet space.
We often hear about moderation but the word I prefer to focus on is balance. Finding the “middle ground.” While there are plenty of things we can’t control (like the rain), there are plenty of other areas where God leads us to find the balance between enough and too much.
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul, Worship His holy name
Matt Redman 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)
Heaven and Earth are singing
Glory, hallelujah, let the whole world see
The greatness of our God
In awesome wonder, He reigns forever
We know the greatness of our God
His pow’r is endless, He lives within us
(Greatness of Our God, Newsboys)
When the sky was starless in the void of the night
He spoke into the darkness and created the light
Our God is an Awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom power and love
Our God is an Awesome God
(Lyrics: Richard Mullins)
Photo: Sunrise in Jamaica
This is another photo taken on St John, USVI at the National Park. This is called the Salt Pond and if you look closely, you can see something white at the edge of the pond. This is salt which forms at the edges (and gives the pond it’s name). This happens because the pond is actually below sea level. So water from the sea gets in, but can not escape except by evaporation. When there are extended periods of time with no rain, the salt concentration get so high that the salt precipitates out. People actually come to this pond to collect salt and report that it “tastes good!” The red color is reportedly due to algae in the pond.
We are called to be salt, to provide “flavor” for the world. In our modern world, it is easy to overlook the value and importance of salt. I imagine the value of salt was more appreciated in New Testament times.
May we allow God to use us to provide “value” to those around us.
