Niagara Falls is a very famous spot in North America. This great, roaring body of water plunges from Lake Erie over a 186foot precipice and runs along as a river until it flows into Lake Ontario. Just above the falls is Goat Island, which separates part of the on-rushing water into two parts. You can cross over to Goat Island by a bridge. It is fascinating to watch this fast-flowing water as it crashes and surges against the rocks in the river and rushes on to the falls.
As we stood on this bridge, watching the water rushing underneath, we saw a sea gull which seemed to be sitting on the water completely at rest. It was neither moving or being carried away in the rapids. In fact, it was completely unaffected by the waves crashing around it and the water rushing by.
A closer look explained the sea gull’s calmness . . . it had a secret. It had found the tip of a rock to stand on in the middle of the rapids, and a boulder behind it took the force of the rushing water. The bird’s legs were completely covered by the water so that it appeared to be floating on the water, just like sea gulls often do.
David, King of Israel, boasted about God being his rock and his shelter. In Psalm 62:2,62He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. (Psalm 62:2)
6He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. (Psalm 62:6), twice he says, “[God] only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.” And in Psalm 61:2 King David says, “When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.”
Isn’t that just what we all need? The world is full of turmoil and unhappiness, as restless as those waters of Niagara. How much we need a strong, firm rock to keep us from being swept away in the confusion and evil all around us. God, our Creator, has not left us alone in this unsettled world. He has given us a Rock on which we can stand, firm and secure, in the worst of storms and turmoil. He sent Jesus, His Son, to be our Rock, to die in our place so that all who believe and accept Him as their Saviour will be saved from the penalty of their sins. Then He sent His Holy Spirit to be our Guide and Comforter.
Trials and storms come to everyone, but happy is the boy or girl, man or woman, who has found the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Rock, a support and shelter through the rough waters of life. Those who are trusting in the Lord Jesus, the Rock of our salvation, will be able to stand undisturbed, like that sea gull with its feet on a rock and in the shelter of a big boulder.
“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust” (Psalm 18:22The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. (Psalm 18:2)).
ML-11/05/2006