first Dunkin' Donuts shop. I've been a fan of their coffee for about
fifteen years since having my first cup in Durham, NC. Every so often
I treat myself to a cup, and I savor the flavor as I sip (as I have
this morning).
But I'm also pondering the cup my coffee came in; what will happen to
it? It's the standard-issue styrofoam cup with appropriate
advertising imprinted on it. This all means that the cup won't be
used again; I'll soon toss it in the trash. And then where? Within
days it will rest in the local landfill, and there it will remain for
decades to come. It's not a very "green" alternative.
As I came into the office this morning, coffee in hand, raindrops were
falling. Suppose I told you that the drop that landed on my nose was
a brand-new raindrop. If you know anything at all about the cycles of
nature, you would laugh at my ignorance. It may have been new to me,
but that drop of water has been around for a very long time; for as
long as the earth has been around, in fact.
The water that landed on my nose may have then slid onto the ground
beneath me. Sinking into the earth, it might eventually be absorbed
by a root from a tree or a blade of grass. Rising back to the
sunlight, the water would then be evaporated into the sky where it
would join millions of other drops to form a cloud. Over time that
cloud would release some of its water, perhaps thousands of miles from
where I live. And so the cycle continues, over and over, throughout
time.
If you ask me, that's the ultimate in recycling. Even if the water
drop is contaminated during its sojourn on earth, purification is
accomplished during evaporation. Water just doesn't wear out!
Solomon spoke of this phenomenon long ago: "All the rivers run into
the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers
come, there they return again" (Ecclesiastes 1:7). Without this
amazing cycling action, life on earth could not exist.
Without God's amazing habit of blessing our lives, we could not exist.
That's a thought on which we need to ponder more often.
David, long ago, realized the abundance of God's blessings on a
regular basis: "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits,
the God of our salvation!" (Psalm 68:19). God doesn't just send
drizzles of good gifts; He "loads" us with benefits we need.
Even in times of trouble we can honestly acknowledge that we are
blessed. Jeremiah wept over the destruction of his home city, but he
could still make this refreshing observation: "Through the Lord's
mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They
are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my
portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I hope in Him!'" (Lamentations
3:22-24). God's willingness to bless just doesn't wear out!
Where did that raindrop on my nose come from? Was it earlier found in
China, in Antarctica or in Patagonia? One thing I can state with
certainty is that it came from God (see Matthew 5:45). And He is the
source of all the good blessings on which I depend (James 1:17).
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him
Timothy D. Hall.
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