This is what the road looks like near our Cabin.  it appears wherever a culvert was, the flooding created this.  i think there are 4 or 5 of these types of ‘holes’ on the road to our property. (can i even call it a hole?  wish the photo could really show how massive it really is.)

 Temporary access passes have been given to residents only.  So that we can wind our way around on roads rarely traveled-it’s a long way in, a hard way in.  a windy and rough way in.

photo source

There is this company that rents out temporary bridges for situations like this.  Our state is FULL of these holes, as well as roads completely gone-taken over by the river.   The governor has given the go to have these installed in Colorado.  Which roads will receive them is unknown to me-i’m not holding my breath for our county road-but we’ll see.  an 80-foot, two-lane bridge would probably cost $60,000 to $70,000 annually, and can be erected in 4 days.

………

and so i was thinking about this as i read Matthew chapter 3 and Isaiah chapter 40:

3 Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ³ For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, 

A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ “Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
⁵ Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
⁶ A voice says, “Call out.”
Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.

 John’s calling out-make way for the king.  Fill the pot holes, smooth out the road.  Spiritually speaking-it’s repenting of the sin that so easily entangles me.  But i work to turn the other way, to walk away from the sin, yet again and again and again, selfishness, ugliness, on and on and on the list can go in the course of just a few minutes. 

it’s just as massive and impossible job for me to repair too.  The bridges of ‘good behavior’  i may construct are only temporary.  do i grasp that?  for all my righteous acts are as filthy rags.  i can never make it.

but God……

He bridges the gap for me.  and makes Himself accessible. 
the promise isn’t for the road to my cabin….so much as it’s for the caverns sin carves out in my heart.  His bridge took a few hours to complete.  in an instant He declared; “It is Finished.”  That separating curtain tore from top to bottom.

and i have been invited to come and approach The Kings Throne……

^{Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].}

 He’s the King, i tell you, and He has provided.

this is part of a 31 day series on Provision.  To see the first post in the series click here.  To read the entire series click here and read backwards (the first post is listed last, the latest post is listed first-i don’t know how to change that. thank you for grace.)

Hide: 

4. To protect; to keep in safety

In the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. Ps.27.

Provide:

 [L. provideo,literally to see before; pro and video, to see.]

5. To foresee; a Latinism. [Not in use.]

He sees.  This concept of provision is completely new to me.  and deeply comforting.  He sees before. ……

So one place i thought i’d start in this series is a good ole search of the Bible on the word Provide.  this story!?!...i was thinking of it this morning…and here it is in the search.  oh how deeply comforting and affirming.  

² The word of the Lord came to [Elijah], saying, ³ “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁴ It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.” 

⁵ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. ⁷ It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹ “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”  (1 Kings 17)

The Word of the Lord said: “hide yourself by the brook…..I have commanded the ravens….”

The Lord commands his prophet to hide himself by a brook.  he commands His ravens to bring him bread and meat.  he forsees the need.  the need for physical sustenance, and the need to be hid away for a time.  i could almost venture to think he saw this very need when He was forming the brook.  i can picture the comfort thought of in the forming of the rocks, just the right crevices, just the right shapes. and the trees, just the perfect placement for shade.  and the sound of the brook-to calm and soothe and refresh. (ok, so it just says a brook, and not rocks or trees, but this is the way my mind visualizes a place to hide onself and take shelter from the storms.)

He sees how tired we are.   how worn down from the groaning.  the word of the Lord still comes and provides.  He commands and directs.  He knows the need, the real needs.  He’s no butterfly;

(Amy Carmichael writes of letters she’s written to those suffering:

“ All these letters have been written, as one of them tells, at the time the storm fell upon me, not after the coming of the calm.  In the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius we are told that it is in our power to live free from all compulsion in the greatest tranquility of mind, even if wild beasts tear in pieces the members of this kneaded matter which has grown around us. ‘for what hinders the mind, in the midst of all this, from maintaining itself in tranquility?’ But when he wrote that, his kneaded matter was not being torn to pieces.  It was sitting comfortably aloof from the claws of wild beasts; so his composure does not do much for us.  It can, indeed, be exceedingly irritating.  There is more of the pith of life in Satan’s ‘put forth Thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh’—we understand that.

The toad beneath the harrow knows
Exactly where each toothpoint goes.
The butterfly upon the road
Preaches contentment to that toad.

There can be minutes when the toad is not properly grateful to the butterfly—no, not even if he comes dressed like a very good Christian.  He is upon the road: he isn’t under the harrow; he never was there.”  (Rose from Brier p.14)

No, our Lord is no butterfly.  He sees before.  He provides a hiding place and sustenance.  sometimes He uses ravens and sometimes He uses widows.  with Elijah, he was told to Hide himself before he was told to Arise and go.  For the Lord saw and knew his beloved child’s need. 

and He provided.

i had some other thoughts last night for today’s post.  but the trick of writing everyday is writing of the stuff of everyday.  and today, this is it. these are the words i have for a dear one who has had way too many butterflies flitting about her.  may the Lord grant you shelter in the cleft of a rock and the comfort of His very wings my friend. 

PROVISION:

1. The act of providing or making previous preparation.

2. Things provided; preparation; measures taken beforehand, either for security, defense or attack, or for the supply of wants.

PROVIDE:

v.t. [L. provideo,literally to see before; pro and video, to see.]

1. To procure beforehand; to get, collect or make ready for future use; to prepare.

Abraham said, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering. Gen.22.

5. To foresee; a Latinism. [Not in use.]

6. Provide, in a transitive sense, is followed by against or for. We provide warm clothing against the inclemencies of the weather; we provide necessaries against a time of need; or we provide warm clothing for winter, &c.

Nester does a 31 days series in October.  This year i’m giving it a go.  it feels like giving myself an assignment as tho i was in school, and i’ve never been great at the spelling or grammar…..but whose grading?? 🙂   The word Provision has been on my mind lately.  And when i looked it up in that old 1828 Webster’s dictionary  i saw a depth i’d never thought of before. (if you click on the definitions above you’ll be taken to the online version)

So here goes to 31 days of learning to see the things provided.