High Stakes

High Stakes

Squeeze that which is hard.

You expect it to break, to shatter, for the pieces to fall all around.

Like the breaking of glass, it shatters like sand.

And yet!

And yet!

Genesis 2:5-6 When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not [yet] caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground, But there went up a mist (fog, vapor) from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground—

Look and see.

The hard is like a sponge to me. I squeeze it and from that which is small and hard comes a flood. The water falls. The drops fall the water rises. It ripples across the land.

Plant the flag, stake your claim, drive it in deep, into the deep. For this is no sinking ship. This is not the mast of the ship that you see amongst the waves.

This is the huge flag pole. This is my stake in the ground in the deep, in the depths.

Isaiah 62:10-12 Go out through the gates! Prepare the highway for my people to return! Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders; raise a flag for all the nations to see. The Lord has sent this message to every land: “Tell the people of Israel, ‘Look, your Savior is coming. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.’ ” They will be called “The Holy People” and “The People Redeemed by the Lord.” And Jerusalem will be known as “The Desirable Place” and “The City No Longer Forsaken.”

Come closer, look closer. The waves appear to crash against the pole. But the pole is driven deep into the depths.

And yet. And yet! The waves are flowing from the stake not against it. For it is the source, it is my stake.

Proverbs 13:7-9 One man considers himself rich, yet has nothing [to keep permanently]; another man considers himself poor, yet has great [and indestructible] riches. A rich man can buy his way out of threatened death by paying a ransom, but the poor man does not even have to listen to threats [from the envious]. The light of the [uncompromisingly] righteous [is within him—it grows brighter and] rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked [furnishes only a derived, temporary light and] shall be put out shortly.

Look again, and the light reflects from the flag, so intense it illuminates all around. The stake is the house for my light, it is my lighthouse.

This is where the water rises, the tide turns. This appears to be a water fall. And yet! And yet! This is a water rise, a water spout, a water fountain.

You place your hands upon the fall and yet, and yet it pulls you up not down. Your hands and body rise up. The wall is slippery and yet you rise. How can this be. The water takes your hand and pulls you up.

Jeremiah 24:6 For I will set My eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up.

The water pole, the solid pole, the stake, my stake, you can rely on it, you can lean on it, for it shall be your staff.

You shall not drown in my water, for it is the living water. Those who step into it live. Those you step on it are elevated, must rise not fall. It bounces, that which touches it will bounce, will rebound, will re bound, bound to bound again.

Isaiah 49:21-25 Then [Zion], you will say in your heart, Who has borne me all these children, seeing that I lost my offspring and am alone and barren and unfruitful, an exile put away and wandering hither and thither? And who brought them up? Behold, I was left alone [put away by the Lord, my Husband]; from where then did all these children come? Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up My hand to the Gentile nations and set up My standard and raise high My signal banner to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in the bosom of their garments, and your daughters will be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be your foster fathers and guardians, and their queens your nursing mothers. They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth and lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know [with an acquaintance and understanding based on and grounded in personal experience] that I am the Lord; for they shall not be put to shame who wait for, look for, hope for, and expect Me. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives of the just be delivered? For thus says the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the prey of the terrible will be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will give safety to your children and ease them.