On one particular morning, as I sat and rested, I glanced just to my left and I observed, like many times before, the huge hole dug out by city engineers directly behind the 25-foot high dam—commonly called a “catch basin”.
“I feel like I’m stuck in that stupid mud filled, smelly hole!” I complained to the Lord.
Because of its elevation against the foothills, above the city, anything unfortunate enough to be found stuck in a catch basin was out of the line of sight of people in the city below. Concealed behind a great wall, no one below would be the wiser of your dilemma. In effect, anything trapped in that hole would only be visible from above it.
“That is exactly where you’re supposed to be”. I heard the Lord reply.
I knew, from growing up in that area, that the purpose of building the catch basins was to prevent the inevitable flooding and destruction of the town below when the rains came. A catch basin “catches” the run-off from the mountains and holds it safe behind the dam. The water is then allowed to flow through the dam’s gate at a rate that is safe for the people below.
I hated feeling desperate, alone, and unseen in that hole, but I knew at that moment God was revealing his thoughts to me. He allowed to see that my time stuck in loneliness and discomfort was to prepare me for the storms that were surely coming. In other words, this difficult tent life was creating me into a catch basin.
“So what do I do now?" I asked the Lord.
This is what the Lord said to me: “I have created many catch basins in this city. I have placed them all around the city. They too have felt alone and utterly incapable of going on by themselves. Find the other catch basins—live with them, learn from them, and love them. The rain is coming.”
“I feel like I’m stuck in that stupid mud filled, smelly hole!” I complained to the Lord.
Because of its elevation against the foothills, above the city, anything unfortunate enough to be found stuck in a catch basin was out of the line of sight of people in the city below. Concealed behind a great wall, no one below would be the wiser of your dilemma. In effect, anything trapped in that hole would only be visible from above it.
“That is exactly where you’re supposed to be”. I heard the Lord reply.
I knew, from growing up in that area, that the purpose of building the catch basins was to prevent the inevitable flooding and destruction of the town below when the rains came. A catch basin “catches” the run-off from the mountains and holds it safe behind the dam. The water is then allowed to flow through the dam’s gate at a rate that is safe for the people below.
I hated feeling desperate, alone, and unseen in that hole, but I knew at that moment God was revealing his thoughts to me. He allowed to see that my time stuck in loneliness and discomfort was to prepare me for the storms that were surely coming. In other words, this difficult tent life was creating me into a catch basin.
“So what do I do now?" I asked the Lord.
This is what the Lord said to me: “I have created many catch basins in this city. I have placed them all around the city. They too have felt alone and utterly incapable of going on by themselves. Find the other catch basins—live with them, learn from them, and love them. The rain is coming.”
