Upheld In Restoration

Love Our River

We Spokanites love our river.

After church, I often visit the Spokane River on the way home from church. Especially in the springtime when the winter snows run off and the river becomes a raging torrent. It is most beautiful in its fury as it races toward the mighty Columbia River.

This day, I stopped to chat with people. A lot of us came to take sustenance for our souls. I petted dogs, chatted with other hikers and ran along the bank, trying to catch a couple of white water rafts that went by so fast that they looked like a blur.

Then I wandered across the suspension bridge and back. I love to stand in the middle and feel the sway of the bridge as people trek across it. The water charging below is mesmerizing.

After coming back off the bridge, I talked with one man who said he loves to come and sit on a rock, close his eyes and listen to the roar as the water rushes by. I understood what he said. I, too, stood on the bank, listening and breathing deeply and let the river refresh my soul.

Changing Our Outlook

While water can mean storms, especially on lakes and oceans, I want to focus on the healing power of the river. It soothes deep in the soul and restores life to us. Just spending the time to roam alongside it changes my outlook on life, and, I think, for most of us. Judging by the joyful faces and smiles of the people I encountered.

Somehow, most of us are drawn to water. A stream, river, lake, or the ocean. Something about the life of water flows through our souls.

Living Water

Sometimes I hear the expression that someone has been baptized into an experience. It could mean any new endeavor they are attempting. It usually means a good dunking.

Of course, most of us think about baptism in the spiritual sense. We go under the water and our old life is washed away. We come up out of the water with a brand-new life yet to be lived to the glory of God.

The water is a blessing. Straight from the Throne of God. Meant to cleanse us, heal us, set our feet on new paths, raise our souls to new heights. And see the Face of God!

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:1-4 NKJV).

Sometimes all it takes is a stroll along the river.