PERSONAL VIEW: “The Pond in my Back Yard”

By Jim Lamb

There’s a small pond in my back yard fed by a river connected to the Gulf of Mexico. I’ve seen mullet jump, baby tarpon turn, and alligators lurk like semi-submerged submarines waiting for prey to slide by.

The pond is a stone’s throw from my writing room. When I’m stuck on a paragraph, I look out the window for inspiration. Birds and butterflies fly by. Squirrels zip through trees, jumping from limb-to-limb, defying gravity. Before long, inspiration returns, and I’m back hacking on the keys of my iMac.

As I’m writing this, the sun has not yet risen. Tops of trees are mere shadows. The pond has yet to appear. I’m listening to the late great R. C. Sproul, founder of Ligonier Ministries, who was born in my home state of Pennsylvania and later moved to Florida, where I now live.

His sermon title this day: “Is God Just?”

Or, to put it another way, “Is there unrighteousness in God?”

“Of course not,” I think as I watch the pink-orange orb bull-doze into the sky.

Why then, Sproul asks, did God choose Jacob over Esau before they were born?

Not based on their behavior. Not based on what they would do. God sovereignly chose one over the other so that His purposes would stand. He didn’t need anyone’s permission. He owed no one an explanation.

The sky is pink now with swatches of light blue—layer-by-layer-by-layer. The pond picks up on the sun’s glory and honors it by adding a slight shimmer-glimmer.

Beauty begets beauty. Light begets light.

The orchestration of this sunrise happens with no help from me. Not one drop. Not an iota. Not a speck, jot, dot, tittle, or particle. Yet I am blessed by its appearance.

R. C. Sproul has just quoted from Romans 9:15 …

“For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

Today, God will have mercy and compassion as He sees fit. With His sunrise, He has already blessed me. It almost seems greedy to ask for more—yet I will. It’s my nature.