At the Border

I drove to Idaho again this week, and was struck yet again by the contrast in a section of land along the way:

Looking north from I-84

It reminds me of when my family moved during one summer twenty-some years ago from the very rainy Washington coast to the desert on its eastern side.  With 84 inches of rain per year, the coastal town was consistently and thoroughly forested.  With only 8 inches of precipitation per year, the eastern side is naturally marked more by sagebrush.  As we drove east across the state, our surroundings shifted from a lush green to more of a pale brown.

There was a place in the journey where the colors shifted back, though.  Where the Columbia Basin Project brings water to irrigate the fertile ground, an otherwise barren land produces well, and the impact is clear, even visible from far above, from the distinct line created.  There was a particular place on the trip that I looked forward to each time we drove it -- cresting a hill and seeing the green line ahead where farmland began.

Satellite picture, with new hometown near center

The soil in that area contains many nutrients and the climate provides plenty of sun during the growing season.  For so many years, this region had much farming potential, but something was missing.  Only when it was watered could that potential be realized.

Dr. Diehl talked last night (Numbers 13-14) about the Israelites on the border of the land God had promised to give to them.  He had gotten them out of slavery and sustained them as they moved together toward the place that was to be their new home.  Now all they had to do was go, trusting God to carry through what He had promised.

They had everything they needed, but had left God out of their calculations.  The potential was there, but they failed to realize it because they left out the "water" needed to make it grow.

As we take time in these days to intentionally focus on God, and to seek and pursue where He calls, Dr. Diehl invited us to take the next step forward in faith, wherever that next step may be in each of our lives.