Beautiful Day In Montana

I woke up this morning to an absolutely gorgeous day--crystal clear blue skies and mid 70's for temps. God has truly been so good to me this week with such great weather. Before I arrived I was told that it had been cool and rainy. It's hard for me to grasp but they are in late spring here--like what we experience (usually around mid to late May).

I've been struck by the Psalmist in Psalm 119 who is being afflicted by enemies and yet keeps affirming the value and importance of God's word. He states, "I am small and despised, yet I do not forget Your precepts...Trouble and anguish have come upon me; yet Your commandments are my delight" (vss. 141, 143).In the face of his extreme difficulty he lived by faith in God's promises and in God's power. He was committed to believe God's Word and to live according to it. His resolve of faith is convicting. Our natural reaction in adversity is to question God, to doubt God, to get angry with God. He kept reminding Himself of God's truth, kept asking God for courage to be obedient, kept asking God to revive Him through the promises in the Word. He was totally sold out to God. I think it was John MacArthur who quoted someone that said, "For some Christ is present, For some Christ is prominent, and for some Christ is preeminent." For the Psalmist God was preeminent. He sought God's power to deliver and clung to God's promises. Oh, that I might do the same whether in adversity or not.

I headed south towards Yellowstone to embark on a rather steep climb to a gorgeous mountain lake (Lava Lake). The climb was steep but the view was breathtaking. I hiked along "Cascade Creek" aptly named as it contained one cascade after another (small drops in elevation spaced out almost like stair steps for the water). The water was moving rapidly and the roar of the water drowned out most of the singing birds. The trail was rocky and so it was difficult to gaze about without stumbling so I took and occasional picture and used the descent to drink in the beauty more fully. The lake is 40 acres of deep, cold, clear mountain water surrounded by pristine pines and granite rock slides with snow capped peaks in the background.

I spent some time at the lake and then descended only to watch some folks putting their Kayaks into the Gallatin river--the major river running through the canyon that makes it's way to Yellowstone (about 90 miles south of where I am). I stopped at a turnout and took a couple of pictures of these "crazy" people making their way down the raging river.

Time to do some reading, thinking and praying before bed.