Dead Fish Talking

Just about a week ago, Middle Tennessee went through the worst non-hurricane devastation that the US has seen. High water either closed or slowed down this entire region as hundreds of thousands were affected by this event. It will be months, if not years to fully recover from the storms and flooding.

During all of this, I noticed something interesting. As you enter into my neighborhood, there is a boat dock and parking lot for Old Hickory Lake. During the peak of the storms, the lake water had risen to cover the entire parking lot, the main street, and spilled over into the field on the other side of the road. Now this was not a trickle of water! The water just in the road flooded out cars up to the windows. The field, across from the lake was now a raging river, 6-8 feet deep in some spots. Yes it was a HUGE mess. Over the next few days, the sun came out and the water started to subside slowly. As this once raging river crept back to the place from where it came from, it left a ton of debris scattered all over...including tons of fish! I and my kids watched in amazement as these rather large fish swam around in what now was merely a puddle of water. Day after day, we would either see these fish finally succumb to the sun and lack of water, the nets of eager fishermen or even buzzards that came in flocks!

Only if they could have made their way back to where they belonged, back into the lake where there was safety and what they needed for life. The sad thing is that all of those fish survived the storms, but they did not survive the aftermath of what was to come.

We are a lot like those fish. Storms of life come and they can push us off track, away from where we were or where we are suppose to be. One minute were swimming along in the "Lake of Life" and the next minute...BAM, were in a huge mess. Oh, we might survive the storms but it's the aftermath that leaves us in danger. Too many times we stay waddling around in the puddles of life thinking about how we got there and why it happened when what we really need to do is get up and get back to the safety and where we belong. Psalm 9:9 says "The Lord will also be a REFUGE for the oppressed, a REFUGE in times of trouble". God's desire is that when we find ourselves heading into, in the midst of or coming out of a storm that we will seek refuge in HIM. If we don't, we might end up drying up as a christian, getting caught in a net of sin or worse be devoured by the big buzzard...Satan!

See You @ The River...John