Do you ever feel like you want to take a day off to escape what life has thrown at you? I’m not talking about disappearing into the “if only” rabbit hole where nothing good lives; just a day off. Seldom do I surrender to such thoughts, yet a recent wave of overwhelm left me aching for a temporary reprieve. After I mentioned it to a friend, she sent me the most insightful and encouraging message about water, water, more water, and a window. She has permitted me to share it.

“I completely understand the desire to “get off the boat” for a day. And amazingly, this coincides beautifully with my musings this morning on Genesis 8:1: “And God remembered Noah…”

Although obedient and in God’s will, the travellers were locked in the ark during what must have felt like endless, monotonous, hard-working days. They surely must have wondered if God had forgotten them or if the deluge would last forever. But the Lord remembered them …

I was reminded that the Lord provided a window. And although the landscape was still water, water, and more water, it brought fresh air, and, once the rain stopped, surely some sunshine. A sliver of things to come.” *

They had done what God asked, and yet it was NOT a pleasure cruise. But they had a window.

I had never paid attention to that window before. It must have been a tiny beacon of hope both during the storm and when it calmed. As they bounced on the rough water and torrential rain pummelled their floating zoo, I imagined people lined up at that window. Each one took a turn gasping for a breath of fresh outside air, because after all, they were locked in a floating zoo. Later, little by little, through it, they saw the signs that life was returning to the devastated earth.

Those voyagers were not confined to perpetual darkness until God released them. At different stages of their journey, air, light, and hope entered through that window.

In my life, I’m amazed by the windows Jesus opens for me to see the world beyond my immediate scope. Sometimes, He opens one for me to see how He is working in a specific situation. At others, just focusing on Him as if through a window as my boat bounces about is enough. And then there are times He helps me see small delights that I might easily overlook without that little window. (Like a rabbit eating the invasive strawberry spinach in my garden that I foolishly planted a few years ago!)

When we open our figurative windows and look at Jesus, we can see beyond and live above the water, water, and more water. We see His hand in the small things. We see His provision and His care. We can still experience joy despite the circumstances. He does all of that and more. And we always have access to that window. We can look to Him, and He is always there to help us see beyond the water.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1–2

Brenda Erb Roberts

*Thank you, Michelle Houghton, for your encouragement and inspiring words.