Canyons of Grace

I surveyed the canyon spread out before me. A canvas revealing the dimensions of time, etched by the ancient brushstrokes of water uncontained. Its unyielding force carves as it cascades to the lowest and most hidden surface, where it pools and gathers before pressing beyond and traveling to the deep places no one knows.

In the beginning, the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Hundreds of years later the earth was once again covered by water and it was over those waters, that the dove once again flew. This time, the waters held Noah and his family, carrying Christ’s bloodline, by way of the ark. Moses was drawn out of the water and positioned to lead God’s people from captivity through the Red Sea and to the banks of the Jordan. It was Joshua who led the people and the Ark of the Covenant through the Jordan to the land God had first promised to Abraham. It was within the Ark of the Covenant that God required all who approached the altar to first pass through the water. Jesus came up from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God was seen descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”[1]

It is through the water that places unseen are made new and hidden crevices are exposed to the Light. It is where we are completed and fortified for our appointed journey. Just like the canyon, my heart was carved into a new creation as I passed through His river of grace. It is that grace that breathes power into our purpose. I can’t help but see the rugged canyon transposed over my core, where the valley of my monuments attest to what was and what is and what will surely be. Sculptures of rugged beauty, where barren land once stood.

[1] Matthew 3:16-17