We reunited with our friend Dawn at the Witness of God’s Creation gathering on our recent trip to Montana. (See also Gene’s articles on “Our Father’s Loving Design”.) She wrote to us a bit of the blessings she received there, and she gave me permission to share them with you. Read and enjoy!
I’ve been learning some things about trees from the Word (I like trees anyway), in particular, the uses of palm tree. The “palm tree” in the Word of God often refers to the date palm, and at times the word “honey” in the Bible may refer to honey from dates, rather than honey from bees.
The first use of “palm tree” is in Exodus 15, after the children of Israel saw God deliver them from the Egyptians, when they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground and came to Marah.
Exodus 15:22-23:
So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
Within three days they were grumbling because the water at Marah was bitter. Moses went to God, and God showed him a branch that made the water sweet, possibly the moringa oleifera tree. (Not sure if it was really a natural remedy or not, but God took care of them.)Then in verse 26 God told them, “I am the Lord who heals you.”
Exodus 15:24-26:
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.
Then, the very next thing, they come to an oasis called Elim, with 12 springs of water and 70 date palms!
Exodus 15:27:
And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.
God brought them on their journey, beyond the “treated” stinky water from Mara to “springs” of water at Elim (and maybe eating the dates from the palms was like candy for them). They just had to persist, to move, to follow Moses. And God, by His faithfulness, got them to an oasis. God always has the best waiting for us if we just recognize it.
Thinking back, I was realizing how our entire trip to Montana was like that, not just the three or four days at the festival. God had the best weather, clouds, misty mountains, flowing creeks, blooming glacier lilies…everything to bless my two daughters and me, to show us His love, even when we were on our “side-trip” to Glacier National Park.
Once when I was hanging out on a bridge across McDonald Creek there, I lifted my binoculars to see if I could find one of my girls on the trail below, and instead I saw these cool gray birds fluttering about and dipping in and out of the rapids. They were water ouzels, or American Dippers.
When I taught language arts to 7th graders, I loved using a favorite little essay by conservationist John Muir about the Water Ouzel in the Sierras.
“Among all the mountain birds, none has cheered me so much in my lonely wanderings–none so unfailingly. For both in winter and summer he sings, sweetly, cheerily, independent alike of sunshine and of love, requiring no other inspiration than the stream on which he dwells. While water sings, so must he, in heat or cold, calm or storm, ever attuning his voice in sure accord; low in the drought of summer and the drought of winter, but never silent.”
–John Muir, 1894
These birds sing even in the dead of winter! I was wondering if they might be found at Glacier National Park, too, because I had never seen one. Then God had them for me, right there. No one else around, including the hikers, the families snapping selfies, the kissing couples—no one even noticed those birds, but God made sure to bless me with them.
What joyful fellowship we have with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ!
One reply on “God’s Refreshing Blessings”
That’s our God. He is so good to us, always! I love to hear the little blessings He gives to others. It tenderizes my heart toward Him even more and I cry tears of joyfulness knowing I will never know the extent He will go to bless us! It is never ending!