Babbling Brooks

Babbling Brooks

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, I once was lost... but now I'm found. (I was) a hopeless case, an empty place, if not for Grace."
 
My hubby's family lives in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada... that's right, I married a foreigner, one of those super polite, super conversant (and might I add super hot) Ca-nooks.

Besides congeniality, the area is known for it's beautiful scenery - gently rolling hills, flowering summer gardens, city parks that you can loose yourself in... On one such loose-yourself walk, I stopped in the middle of a wooded area and looking around, I really could imagine myself in the pages of an Anne of Green Gables book - the smell of freshness and open air, a place ideal for clearing my head and regrouping.

The really bad part about such nature walks is that once your head clears and you've taken a few deep breaths and swatted at a few mosquitos, if you are a city slicker like me, you may feel a touch of cold panic begin to creep up around the periphery of your mind, as you look around and realize that every tree looks the same, there are no landmarks to point the way back out... even if the way back out is just a few hundred feet away and leads to a really busy parking area.

Such was the predicament I found myself in that day, right before sunset... I went from marveling at the beauty of nature to running hysterically through bug-swarm clouds, screeching like a little girl, hands waving about like an oscillating fan, in about 30 seconds flat.  By the time the dust settled and the bugs moved on to find new meat, I had no idea where I was.

My rational mind tried to remind me that I was in a municipal park surrounded by condos and dog walkers, but my inner wimp would have none of that kind of thinking - I just knew I was going to die in this wilderness, lost forever.... that's when I heard the bubbling, gurgling sound of the little brook that runs through the park.... and my heart soared!

It's a tiny little stream, maybe 3 feet across at the widest part, but it runs through the park and along the parking area, out to Lake Huron. It's dependable, unchanging, clear and strong, it's path always the same... as I walked along it, suddenly confident and adventurous again, I smiled... I had gone from lost and alone, panicked and filled with fear to steady, happy, and safe all because of the soft, babbling presence of that little brook.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation or a tough spot in life that poured fear and doubt and horror over you? I certainly have - a call from a doctor, a conversation with a friend, a sudden moment when everything certain... is taken away. There are moments when all the world is spinning out of control - it's in those moments that I realize how tiny, how powerless I truly am.

And then, over the rapid beating of my panicked heartbeat, I hear the soft, babbling brook of God's voice... "Come to Me,... Trust Me,... Follow Me, child, and I will lead you through."

The miracle of God's still, small voice is ours today... We don't have to give in to the voices of doubt and fear in our mind - listen for Him.

Sometimes it takes me awhile to hear His voice - I don't do anything half way, and that includes pity parties, panic attacks, sorrow, loss, grief - I jump into the messiness of life full throttle and that means that sometimes I get myself stuck pretty good to the flypaper before I exhaust myself enough to hear God... but He is always speaking, dependable, unchanging, clear and strong.

No matter what life has thrown your way - God is speaking to you, He desires the best for you, and it's never too late. Just be still, and listen.