Series: Flowers in the Desert
Psalm 46:1-3 ESV
The Saguaro desert cactus stands strong and tall and has a unique role in the plant kingdom.
Not only is it resilient, day by day it knows exactly when to rest and when to wait for more favorable conditions for growth.
It knows how to store water, hiding it in leaves and stems.
It knows how to adapt. It’s almost as if the taproot reaches down deeper and deeper instinctively digging to find water. It digs and searches, digs and searches with each secondary and tertiary root. Every root hair engages with the earth. The taproot slows after each Planck length to search for moisture.
It also produces shallow roots near the surface that fan out wide to collect any moisture that might be available there.
With every movement and with each second it searches.
The Saguaro Cactus is no small plant. It can be 16 feet tall when it’s 100 years old. With each passing moment it fights to grow and stay alive. Growth comes in stages. The main stem grows first. After its well established (like maybe when it’s 100 years old) it’s first arm may appear. By the time it’s 200 years old it can stand 45 feet tall and have several arms.
The Saguaro does produce fruit when it’s around 70-80 years old. Bats pollinate the fruit which enables the spreading of seeds.
The Saguaro is a tower of strength in the desert.
God created it that way.
God created every element perfectly so it could survive in its environment.
Being aware of God’s careful attention to detail in plants makes us mindful of the manner in which God desires to touch all of creation with love and care every day. However, man/wo-man have been given the ability to desire, accept, or reject the movement of the Spirit of God.
We choose. With each passing second we can open our hands and hearts or we can run along on our merry own way. Sometimes it seems like we miss the movement because we are determined to keep pace with the busy-ness of life.
We have expectations and goals. We need to “look” normal.
The Saguaro just needs to BE.
Psalm 46:1-3 gives us a promise, a solemn promise.
We are told:
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah”
Regardless of what the earth around us is doing, if the mountains are moving to the sea, if the waters roar and foam, if the mountains tremble, God is our refuge and strength.
God IS…
That’s quite a statement.
It means even when all else around us is falling apart, God will be our refuge and our strength. It’s a solemn promise.
We might be tempted to turn our attention from Psalm 46:1-3 at this point, but if we do we miss an essential element the writer inscribed. He concluded his thoughts with one simple but very powerful Hebrew word…
Selah.
The word Selah added by the sons of Korah can denote a musical note or a musical movement in the text.
Some consider it a pause.
However, it really means much more than a note on the harp or an inward and outward movement of our lungs.
Selah is from the Hebrew word ‘salal’. When translating the Ancient or Biblical Hebrew language has more depth than most modern languages (like English). It means much more than a simple pause. Think of it this way…we pause to praise. We lift our voices together. We hold it. We hold onto it…FOREVER.
God IS our refuge and strength. It’s not a temporary movement.
Now…add to that movement. If we listen long enough to hear the wind brush through the trees it makes it possible for us to realize, to really know, the strength and the protection of the Spirit of God is ever present.
It’s in, through, and all around.
There is no fear (like we think of fear) in the Spirit of God.
The earth is God’s. God created, God breathed, God everlasting. When God imagined creation it appeared. One thought made the mountains and just like the Saguaro, the movement included a natural order. It was ‘cymbalic’ percussion followed by a symphony of a complex set of patterns joining one molecule to another.
The mighty waters roar and foam because God created it to BE.
Mountains tremble for a reason.
It’s the way it’s intended.
Just like the Saguaro that has arms reaching everywhere to quench a thirst, the earth breathes continuously. The earth seeks order where there is chaos. It seeks restoration and regeneration.
It desires a present help from creation…
Spiritual Practice: Selah
Pause. Praise. Practice present help.
In God, Deborah
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