Reflecting on rocks

I'm trying to settle my heart and mind down to do some writing and editing work this morning. As I sit at my desk I'm thinking back to our camping trip (already two weeks ago). It was so relaxing to sit by the fast flowing river. Not a deep river, but flowing, in places, over and around some very hefty rocks. 

The fun of that part of the river was all the rocks, actually. So many possibilities for frivolously passing the time: clambering over them, piling them, arranging them, throwing them into the river, or just sitting on them. A couple of times I went down there just for some time on my own, for space.

One thing that impressed me as I looked at the water was the rocks that just stayed put as the water rushed over and around them. 

Here in Japan COVID-19 has been on our imminent radar longer than in the West. We had the first large cluster of infections outside of China, with the docking of the Diamond Princess in Yokohama in early February. Ever since late February we've been waiting for an announcement of serious lock-down here. It wasn't until yesterday, April 7, that something approaching that (but not nearly so strict) has been announced. 

But winding back to our camping trip (March 23-25), we'd already been living with news of this disaster and wondering how it would affect our lives for several weeks. We'd done three weeks of distance learning for school and almost all of our upcoming planned meetings and events had been cancelled. We watched from our lounge chairs in Tokyo as our home country shut down and people went wild over toilet paper. We wondered what more there was to come and how that would touch our own lives.

In addition to that, was walking alongside (virtually) my friend as her son's body gradually shut down, and, the day we went camping, he died. It was a lot to process.

I felt like a lot of fast flowing water was passing over me. Sometimes struggling to gasp for breath in the onslaught. Sometimes struggling to keep my foothold on the riverbed. Sometimes tumbling downriver with the water. So, while it was soothing to watch the water flow in that river, I also felt quite a connection with the rocks.

All through this period I've tried to continue to draw my eyes back to Jesus. It's not something that happens naturally, especially in the midst of stress and busyness. It's requires constant reminding amidst the fray.

So I just want to take a few moments now to dwell on the theme of rocks. It's actually not uncommon in the Bible to see God described as a Rock. For example, 1 Sam. 2:2 "There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God."

Which of course is a different metaphor to my thoughts, but along the similar lines.

Psalm 18 has a lot of rocks in it. The word appears in vs 2, 31, and 46.

God is described as the psalmist's (David's) rock (as well as his fortress, deliverer, refuge, shield, and stronghold, support, rescuer).

God, our rescuer who: "reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep watersHe rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me" (vs 16-17).

And in Psalm 40:2 God's actions are described as "lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."

Rocks again. Not so much the flowing, overwhelming water, but along similar lines.

So, thinking about the rocks that don't go anywhere while the hefty pressure of water flow over them, I went looking for more on the theme of being rooted, anchored in God.

Colossians 2:6-7 "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Proverbs 18:10 "The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."

Hebrews 6:19 "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

Ephesians 4 and James 1 give us the image of being tossed back and forth by wind and waves, they exhort us not to be like that.

Ephesians goes on to say that instead we should be joined with Christ in the body of Christ. A different image, but one no less confronting: that we can't just weather this on our own, not only do we need a strong connection with God, we need connections with the Christians he has put around us.

The context of the wind and waves phrases in James is about persevering through trials and temptations. What we're going through right now might not seem like a temptation, but it actually is. It's tempting to withdraw from the church, from others. It's tempting to be anxious, to squirt our anxiety all over others. It is tempting to embolden ourselves by putting down others as they deal with their own challenges. And it's tempting most of all, to forget God. To forget that all we have comes from his hand, even our very days. To forget that our ultimate meaning is to live for his glory.

So, I think my head is in a better place to deal with the next thing on my To Do list (in the midst of all the rushing water, my job has barely changed, in some ways that has been helpful as I've not had to negotiate too many changes in daily life).

How about you? What about the thoughts above strike you as particularly helpful images? How are you anchoring these days? Are you able to find ways to stand firm?