In the Refreshing

I heard a story last week that really hits home on this day of all days.

It was a story about a town near a river, and up the river they were planning to build a dam.

Out of packed earth.

Of course, the managers pitched the project in terms of tourists. enterprise growths, economy spurts and such, and the dam was built.

Now behind this dam, 15 million tonnes of water lay, built up, generating power.

And it makes you wonder what the people in that town just a few kilometres downstream were thinking about this dam.

The water pushing on the packed earth would actually pack it harder, but still...

What if it ever broke? That's a LOT of water.

But time went on and the generations passed by, and it still stands today. The grandchildren of the former residents of this town now go about their daily lives not even worrying about the dam upstream, because they're so used to it.

The threat has become so normal that it isn't even a threat anymore.

And as I approached this day of all days, this season which should be the chief among all seasons, instead of Christmas, which is only the signal of this culmination of everything He came for, I thought about how this story is applicable to how we view God.

In the Old Testament He is pictured as the roaring, awesome, earth-shaking, flood-creating, oath-making, powerful God who led by pillars of fire and smoke.

And even when we come to know Him at first, sometimes we see Him for who He truly is, in the awesomeness of His power.

But it fades. We live day in and day out, knowing that He is powerful, even citing it to one another. But do you really understand what that means?

He is the SAME today as He was the day the Father turned His face away and then three days later, when the Son was raised from the dead.

He has not changed.

We have just grown so used to what has always been there that we underestimate, undermine, some of who He is. 

And I challenge you: think of Him anew.

Don't pass by this day, simply listening to the Easter story or scarfing down mini eggs. Remember the awesome act that lead to our redemption, but don't forget to think of Him as He is today.

He is Risen. He is alive. He works in people's hearts today. He is the I AM.

Indeed, there is something to be thankful for.