LIVING BY THE RIVER

Revelation 22:1  "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing down from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city."

Years ago, when I lived in Louisiana there was a river that ran through the city I lived in.  Perhaps not so much through it as along side of it.  One day as I was driving by I saw a houseboat across from the bank by a small island.  People were on the bank honking their horn for the people of the houseboat to get in the motor boat and come and get them to come visit.  I can remember thinking how wonderful this would be, how peaceful, not to have company unless you came and picked them up to cross the river.  How very peaceful to live in a houseboat tied up by the river.

Well, that never happened for me.  Life seemed so stressful for so many years, so many things happening, things that seemed to be out of control; yes, I was quite a control freak at that time.  But it did not help, there are things we just cannot control.  And trying to control them, just causes more stress, more anxiety, more hurts.  How foolish, what a waste of precious time.  But I can no longer go back and redo things than anyone else.  I believe the Lord designed things that way, you know, no do-overs in our life.  The only do-over we have is our relationship with the Father.  He allows us to come back to Him, to return to the One who loves us so passionately, so tenderly; wiping our tears, caressing our hurts and giving us back real life in Him.

So I never got my houseboat, but I did get to begin to live by the River.  I can actually close my eyes and dangle my feet in the River, that refreshing, soothing, healing River that flows from the throne of my God.  When the day gets long, when it grows weary, I just close my eyes and sit down by the River bank, put my feet in, and let that healing flow start at my feet and flow all the way up to my head, touching each part of my weary body until I begin to feel that refreshing in my spirit, that restoration in my soul and that unspeakable joy flow from my lips in songs of love and worship to my Lord.

Each evening when I end my day, I am drawn to the River bank by my Lord.  He loves me to sit beside Him at the River and tell Him about my day.  Yes, He was there, He saw everything that went on, but you know, He likes to have me tell Him all about it.  He wants to hear my perspective on what I saw, what went on.  After I tell Him how I saw it, so often He tells me how He saw it, and lets me learn the importance of those things that happened.  Why they happened and what He wanted me to learn from it.  Or sometimes He shows me how what I said to someone encouraged them, when I showed love from the Father to them.  We just have a beautiful conversation, a loving visit each night.

Have you not sat beside the Lord and discussed your day?  If you pray to Him at night, when you finish just lay quietly and listen for His beautiful voice coming to your spirit, and then when you hear him begin to speak, just talk to Him, share with Him your day.  Our Lord so loves it when you take the time to share your day with Him.  He will draw you to the River, and while you are visiting, you will also find yourself refreshed, restored, filled with joy.

I have a feeling one day, when my Father calls me home, I will find a cottage alongside the River, or perhaps a stream coming off the great River, with a little low bridge over it when He and I will sit in the evenings, feet dangling in the water, talking and sharing our day.  This 20th day of September, 2011, I am sitting along side my Lord, where I spend my most precious moments with Him, living by the River.