Puddled by Puddles

Spring showers caused them to pop up everywhere.

My maternal grandmother called them mud puddles, and she knew all about them. Living in the flatlands of South Carolina, I saw them after spring and summer rains. Water settled in roadside ditches, fields, potholes in the road, and in low places in dirt driveways until it had time to soak into the ground.

And as the puddles waited to absorb into the dirt or for the sun's heat to suck them into the atmosphere, my cousin-who lived in the flatlands of Vance beside my grandparents-and I waited nearby to play in them when the rain stopped.

We knew nothing finer than removing our shoes and wading in mud puddles or running through them-at which point our entire clothes got wet. Since the summers were hot and humid, the water on our feet and bodies felt exhilarating, until our grandmother delivered us from our game of fun.

Our dalliances in the mud and water meant she'd have to wash clothes-and us. And who knew what might lounge beneath the puddles lying beside the road. Ringworms or other parasites, jagged glass, and tin cans come to mind. All recipes for a trip to the doctor or the emergency room.

As our grandmother drew us from our playing in shallow puddles which carried potentially dangerous risks, so the psalmist said God drew him out of many waters which represented his enemies' attempt to harm him.

For the believer, opposition is natural. It's explained by the presence of light and darkness. We walk in the light while those who ignore God choose darkness. According to Jesus, these two things don't mesh. One will always oppose the other because light exposes darkness' dastardly intentions.

Though opposition is unfavorable, God is sovereign over any we face. Even if it brings unfathomable consequences or ends in our demise, He is still in control and forever greater than any opposition we face.

Opposition also confirms our identity. Jesus said if His enemies persecuted Him they would also torment His followers. Christian history is filled with the truth of His statement. Light hates darkness and reacts against it.

Comforting, however, is the thought that one day all opposition against the truth will be brought under the full authority of Christ's reign. Believers living in the new heaven and on the new earth won't experience it because God will eliminate all forces of sin.

Puddles of opposition may be numerous, but God will deliver us from them all.

Martin Wiles
Hodges, South Carolina, USA

Puddled by Puddles

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