Wahweap RV, Lake Powell Marina, Page Arizona
If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength! ~ Proverbs 24:10
It was scheduled to be a stinkin’ hot day again today, so we put off church until we’d be sequestered inside with air conditioning, and went in search of the elusive Skylight Arch. This is the same arch we tried to find a few days ago and couldn’t. But Blaine did more research, and between that and the help of Google maps, we were able to find it today.
Most of the road we had to drive was relatively smooth and sand-covered, but eventually we came to a point where no regular car could go. Fun!!
We were on the trail before 7:30am and it was already getting warm.
So much beauty surrounded us! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re surrounded by beauty every day! God is sooo good to His people, to give us soooo much more than we can ask or imagine! All we have to do is look around – – no matter where you are.
You can see Navajo Mountain,
and also that large rock in the middle of the water, is Lone Rock.
Pretty cool, huh?
After wandering for about a mile, we came to the Skylight Arch. So amazing! We’d seen it from the road a few days ago, and up close, it was obvious why that was the case. It’s huge! And it faces the road.
I know it looks like he’s on an arch too, but it’s just the lighting. : )
It was up here that we were able to look into the face of erosion. There were so many examples! We spent extra time looking around at the way the rocks have been weather-beaten, and one large one in particular offered up some really interesting expressions.
They offer things like, rides from the airport, massages, spa, personal chef-prepared meals, etc.
It’s owned by the Navajo Indians.
Currently, there’s no one there.
So you see, it’s not all weather related . . . .
I discovered this on the way back.
On the way home, we stopped at WalMart, donned our masks and stepped inside. Unbelievably, there are still things that are missing from the shelves. But the most unbelievable thing today was that not a single check-out was open! Not one! Everyone had to use the self-checkout. I was not a happy camper. I’ve never cared for self-checkout, so to be forced to utilize it, caused a sudden and dramatic dip in my attitude.
We’d no more than begun, when a $10 charge appeared on our screen, and we had to call for help. Plus we had no idea what to do about our produce, so a woman had to help us anyway. I was getting beyond irritated and Blaine had to reassure me that it was okay, as we waited for our help to arrive. My question? Do I get a discount on my purchases when I have to do my own checkout? Nope.
Blaine soothed my irritation by taking me to McDonald’s drive-thru and ordering me a Big Mac, fries and a Coke. 😊 He got a Quarter Pounder. Food always makes me feel better! And other than a pizza or two, it’s the only food we’ve ordered since around February when everything closed. We savored the flavor of fast food!
And today, we finally got caught! Since we’re staying near the Arizona/Utah border, the times fluctuate an hour. We’ve not had a problem until today, when we discovered that we’d eaten lunch at 11am, instead of noon. 😊
Back home, after groceries, etc. were stored away, we grabbed our Bibles and a laptop and headed off to find a good place for church. They have these really nice little alcoves at the other end of the Park and we thought that would make a perfect sanctuary. And it was!
It’s just three walls, and it’s open in the front, facing the water.
But for whatever reason, we were unable to pull up the feed, not even audio, so church was a bust again. Instead, we did a short devotional like we do most mornings.
Inside, there was some information on the walls, so I took pictures of the more interesting things.
Today’s lesson was about God’s sovereignty and talking about the proof that He has been and continues to be, in control. From ancient times and forever. And He can use whomever and whatever He chooses to accomplish His purpose.
The example they used in our devotion today was Cyrus. Cyrus the Great was the king of Persia from 559-530BC and conquered Babylon in 539BC. He’s the man God chose to release the nation of Israel from 70 years of captivity and exile and allowed them to return, re-form their own nation, and rebuild the temple. God had told the Israelites that they’d be in captivity for 70 years, several hundred years before it happened, and He also told them about their release, even told them their “savior’s” name. Cyrus. Check out what He told Isaiah over two hundred years before it happened:
This is what the LORD says – your redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the LORD, Who has made all things, Who alone stretched out the heavens, Who spread out the earth by Myself…. Who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited’, of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be built,’ and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’…. Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’
“This is what the LORD says to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God if Israel, who summons you by name. For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from Me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have no acknowledged Me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting, men may know there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. ~ Isaiah 44:24, 26b-45:7
If you have a desire to search, there are other verses in the Old Testament that speak of Cyrus. If you check out Ezra, you’ll see the ‘present day’ accounting of how the release happened. I can remember being floored when my years of studying the Old Testament revealed this (and of course, soooo much more!)! I mean, no one but God Himself can reveal facts 200 years or more before they happen! And it’s certainly not left up to interpretation.
God is a God of details. He is Sovereign. He is Omnipotent. He is Omniscient.
We pray that if nothing else, the things we do and say in our lives and within the content of this blog, help to provide proof of this, and proof there is without a doubt a Creator God. And the past three years of proof has just been within our own nation, and a few trips into lower Canada. It’s been an eye-opening time so far.
This evening, as sunset approached, we went out to walk around the campground one last time. Tomorrow is moving day. It was perfect weather for a walk! And once again, God’s beauty encompassed us everywhere we looked!
And we discovered that it’s a really long, sandy, stony walk from the sidewalk to the beach! Good thing we had our sandals on!
Don’t tell!
Stellar day! Stellar night!