ISLANDS IN THE STREAM

It seems at times as if life is a steady flow of monotony. This remain the same with nothing happening to give a smile or tear.

I do prefer the monotony at times to any pain. Sadness is not my favorite choices of emotions.

Still, if life gets too boring and predictable that too can make it feel weary and exhausting with the nagging question digging at one's soul, "does any of this that I do really matter?" Then it isn't very far from that plateau of thought to the one of questioning one's value. Which to me only leads to that painful valley called depression.

What I'm grateful for at times is when some island of emotional refuge rises in the flood of dullness. It can be any from a kind word to some other small sliver of grace that gives one shelter from the stream of angst.

For myself, I see those as gifts of God. That is because they come by a means other than through my actions. It is as if the Lord hears the sorrow of my broken essence and mercifully grants me a temporary place of calm.

To me the thing I try to remember is that these are islands and not dwelling places. They are never intended as permanent residences.

Some try to make them as such. And in the process, they find excuse to stop swimming in the flow that comes so naturally.

If they refuse to long and eventually do end up in the flow they can drown in the moment from forgetting how to swim. Or they simply become so atrophied in their endurance for the challenges yet to face they can't move ahead.

I don't believe that the Lord ever desires for us to stop learning and growing in life. Some never accept life beyond whatever comfort zone they prefer to call home.

They grow stagnant in their passions, dead in so many ways except for the beating of the heart. It is a numb existence that never brings much sunshine.

So once we reach a given island. Rejoice! Just don't wait around forever hoping to avoid the next wave or tide.

One never knows when the next island will be even more memorable than the present one. And anticipation will always be a flame that warms far more than refusing to ride the tide.

It doesn't mean we want to leave that island that has soothed us. It merely means we accept by faith that God has no short supply of such islands. He might not always provide a map, but he never leaves us without a life preserver.