One of the lovely things about the landscape here at the Ellerslie campus is that we get to behold a beautiful lake every time we come out of our dorms, the Lake House or the Everett Center. When all of us new students arrived, the lake was frozen solid. I had never seen a frozen lake before (being from central California) so I thought it was really cool (no pun intended ;) However, after a while I began to anticipate seeing the lake in it's unfrozen state, rippling in the wind, reflecting all the things that are above and around it, and capturing bits of sunlight so that it would dance and sparkle like so many diamonds and flakes of gold, as apposed to the unmoving, dull, frozen mass that I now beheld. After being here for a few days, in which Windsor enjoyed nice warm weather, I expected the lake to suddenly be totally melted some afternoon after we came out of class. However this was not the case. It was still a frozen mass. A few more days went by and then, one afternoon, we began to see a ribbon of water around the shore! As exciting as that was, most of the lake was still ice. Over the next couple days it melted more and more and then, finally, one afternoon, we came out of class to behold the lake, in it's entirety, dancing and rippling as the breath of the wind wisped across it. It shimmered and sparkled as the sun began to set. It was a glorious sight to behold in and of itself, but those of us who attend Ellerslie Leadership Training were, for some reason, filled with an extra special excitement in watching all of this unfold. The Lord used this progression to speak in a loving and gentle, yet awesome way, to one of our fellow students, Rachael Beall.
On the day that we finally began to see a ribbon of water around our frozen lake, Rachael felt the leading of the Spirit and when Eric opened up the microphone for those whom the Lord was pressing to share, she obeyed the nudge of the Spirit. As she held the mic to her mouth she announced to all of us that she didn't like mics and also that she didn't speak well in front of people. Well as she went on we discovered that she actually speaks pretty well in front of people. Here is the parallel that Rachael saw between our frozen lake and what God was doing in her heart.
Our hearts, like the lake, are frozen, cold and dead within us. But then the warm breath of the Spirit of Truth blows on our hearts and suddenly, we notice that there is a melting process going on in our hearts. It's a little surprising because we expected to just suddenly be free from this frozen, dead state, but the Lord is working in a slower yet surer way. In the beginning stages there is still so much more ice than dancing water. If we focus on the ratio of ice vs. water it can become disheartening so focus instead on what the Lord is doing. As the Spirit continues to fill us, the portion of ice becomes smaller! Here, Rachael drew a parallel to C.S. Lewis' book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. To borrow Lewis' quote “Aslan is on the move!” Spring is on it's way. It doesn't just suddenly come, but slowly and surely it takes over. It may not be here yet, but it's coming!
Another thing Rachael shared with me is that, just as the lake reflects, so we are to reflect Christ. When the lake is frozen, it cannot reflect. When it is melted, then it reflects but even still, the only time you see a picture perfect reflection in the lake, is when it's perfectly still. So we are to be calm, still, and yielded to Christ in order that we may reflect Him perfectly to those around us. Rachael pointed out that in and of itself, the lake is just a bunch of water, water is clear, transparent, not exactly what we would call beautiful. It would be like saying a window pane is beautiful, or the air is beautiful. She said “The lake is only beautiful in it's ability to reflect.” And so we are only beautiful when we are reflecting Christ.
We were all moved by what she shared and began to look forward, with greater eagerness and confidence, to seeing our hearts melt as they were filled with the Spirit. It's interesting to note that a few days later, we had two days of Spirit led, public confession. On the second day we all walked out of class feeling freer and lighter and that evening we saw our lake, completely thawed, dancing and shimmering! It was a beautiful picture of what we had all just gone through! The journey isn't over, it has just begun, but we have begun and we are on our way!
It's interesting to note that this semester of Ellerslie is called the Winter/Spring semester. It's the same with our hearts, when we get here, our heart is in the dead of Winter, but we get to watch it turn to Spring!
Song of Solomon 2:10-13
My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the Winter is passed, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away!”
And so we say, Jesus is on the move, Spring is coming!
