A Cabin with a View

This past summer my wife and I enjoyed a short visit with my older brother in the great state of Alaska. One adventure included a float plane flight over the beautiful landscape, including a majestic glacier and nearby lake. The pilot described over our headset a catastrophic event that occurs about every 5 years. As the glacier melts each spring, occasionally, an ice dam forms, creating a temporary glacial lake. With massive violence, the dam eventually bursts and floods the nearby lake with a 10-foot high wall of water for about 12 hours before draining through the outlet stream. 

As you can imagine, the fishing cabins around the lake were regularly destroyed by such a cataclysmic event. But in wisdom, cabins were rebuilt with stilts to protect the structures from the flood waters. While the cost of construction and the additional stairs introduced some minor convenience, the benefit included needed protection and sustainable operations for their outdoor adventures.

The circumstances of our lives are rarely free from regular calamities. The well-known quote, “Adversity does not build character, it reveals it,” aptly applies here. It would have been futile for the cabin owners to attempt to quickly remodel their cabins with stilts in the minutes that the flood began. So also, when we experience a crisis in our lives, there is no available time to construct a secure foundation to weather the storm. Whatever character and supports that are already present (or lacking) are our only resources. 

God has revealed He is a God of rhythm. The sun, the moon, and the seasons follow a predictable pattern. He instructed His chosen nation of Israel to follow a weekly pattern of work and rest. Jesus made it a point to regularly visit public synagogues, fellowship with his disciples, and spend time alone with God in prayer. 

The intentional rhythm of our lives is key to building the proper support structure to withstand the waves of this world. God is the designer of community and desires us to participate regularly. He is the author of relationships and has revealed we are better together. God has designed His power to be perfected through our weakness as we pursue Him daily.

As we loaded ourselves back into the float plane and began our return flight to my brother’s home, I was once again overwhelmed by the majesty of God’s created world. How sobering and exhilarating to consider the fraction of God’s glory that has actually been revealed to us. May each of us intentionally develop a rhythm in our lives that consistently pursues God.  The view only gets better and better!