Providing

Take It Further: HE PROVES IT IN THE DESOLATE PLACE – By Erin Kuehn

“Oh, I need to grab some lint from the laundry room” my friend says as we are loading camping gear into the back of the silver Mazda Tribute that carried me on many college jaunts. “Its to help start a fire.” my friend answers my perplexed expression.

Don’t miss the miracle of Jesus taking a few small things and making much of them.

I am dressed in jean overalls and a baseball cap, singing out the rolled down window as the Tribute deserts our college campus nestled in the valley to head for a different mountain view. But not before we make one last stop at a tiny filling station to collect firewood so I can later witness the needed lint work its magic.

We are a gaggle of girls; not a “crew,” some we were acquainted with and some we desired to get to know more; whoever we could cram into The Mazda Tribute and another couple of cars.

Perhaps we are a modern day picture of the crowd gathered where Jesus fed the four thousand.

The outdoor-experienced leading the non-experienced on our camping excursion, we arrive at our spot for the night, set up camp, and then eagerly set out to explore the surrounding grounds. As we are hiking the desolate woods, I observe how dry the ground is—the mud crumbles with each strike of my boots.

After the fire magic produced by wood, a spark, and of course the dryer lint faded and our gaggle of girls begins to turn to sleep, a couple of friends and I opt to sleep outside of the tent.

My back atop the dry land and my body nestled between two dear friends, my eyes adjust to complete darkness. Then I see what the sun’s fading had cued: the brilliance of the stars. The stars felt inches from my face. This is something I had never experienced; but there in the desolate woods I was staring into the thickness of God. Just as the stars filled the sky, God fills this space.

God is waiting and willing to do it again.

I had been groomed to expect an interaction with God to be abrupt, obvious, perhaps even abrasive but like the stars whose presence was gently revealed, the spirit of God is delicate. This dance with God is an unforced rhythm of grace. I slumbered among the stars, in the presence of God, and truly rested.

The next day I returned to our college campus with my gaggle of girls smelling of dirt and fire with sun- burns on our skin, and deeply satisfied.

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For further reading and reflection:
> read Psalm 23
> read Mathew 11 28-30 (the MSG version)

> How can you re-imagine your interactions with the Spirit of God to allow His willingness to meet your willingness and truly satisfy?