The power of water is terrifying, the results devastating to anyone or anything that gets in its way. Propelled by the wind or the gravitational pull of the moon or the earth, water moves with force as it is whipped up, pulled along or dropped from a cliff. Even the slow romantic water of a creek or the soft rain on a hot summer’s day slowly erodes what was and redefines what will be.

Who we are is formed by a lifetime of gentle rains and forceful storms.

Erosion is unavoidable; being redefined inescapable. Life invites interactions that eat away at who we are and create who we will become. Erosion and redefinition will always exist. Starting with those who raised you and ending with those who take care of you in your twilight years, pieces of who you are, are removed and/or redefined every day of your life.

Water without movement has no power until something causes it to move.

The fact we change is benign but the catalyst, the cause of each change, contains the power to destroy without discrimination. Both what is good and what is bad can be decimated, leaving behind a new reality redefined by what is left over.

The Grand Canyon is breathtaking. Some of its beauty has been, regardless of your personal opinion on the age of the earth, created by erosion. What we see has been redefined from what it was to what it is because water under the influence of gravity has moved swiftly over the surface. Anything that was and is in the way, desired or undesirable moves or is worn down redefining the landscape.

The power of erosion must be controlled to create a desirable outcome.

Hydro digging also called hydro vac uses pressurized water to create a hole while vacuuming out the eroded material. Only what is undesirable is removed, the rest remains. Redefining is in the hands of the operator and erosion is only used to help reach the desired outcome. If only we could harness the tides, storms, gentle rains, slow flowing creeks and rushing rivers in nature and in our lives the same way.

Who we are needs to be the result of controlling the power of erosion.

To be transformed into the person God wants us to be we must be redefined. Life’s storms and gentle rains should erode the things that are of this world and redefine our faith. Unfortunately, like water under the pressures of nature, we can have the desirable destroyed just as easily as the undesirable. Harnessing the power of the interactions that eat away at who we are and create who we will become is essential to the growth of our faith.

Erode or Redefine?

You really don’t have a choice, one is the result of the other. Still, the fact that erosion leads to being redefined is not an issue, the fact that it may be out of control is. Everything is at risk. What is weakest is changed the most but nothing is left unaffected. What is eroded and what, if anything, remains is determined by who we allow to control and direct the power.

Life can change in an instant or over time but it will still be changed.

I experience the world around me and try to react to it in a way that makes me more Godly forgetting that I am not strong enough to fight off the negative impact on my faith. My faith is the weakest part of who I am and my sinful being the strongest. When I attempt to control the erosion I am at the mercy of nature, my sin nature. My faith is eroded and I am redefined by my sinful points of view.

Erosion redefines who I am in terms of what is gone and what remains. What is weak is impacted the most, what is strong is impacted the least but there is always less of both. This is where the metaphor begins to break down. When God is in control the strongest part of us is eroded and the weakest part is strengthened. There is less of one but more of the other. Our faith is built in the storm and in the light rain, who we are in Christ is redefined by the rushing river, pounding tide and the trickling stream.

Who we are needs to be is the result of God controlling the power of erosion.

I don’t know what you are going through right now. Life could be like a light rain or trickling stream. Nothing is out of the ordinary and your interactions appear to have no influence on who you are in your faith journey. Let God use this time to slowly erode your sin nature and build up your faith. On the other hand life may be more like a storm, a rushing river, a pounding tide. Everything is upside down and there appears to be no hope. Let God use this time to forcefully erode your sin nature and miraculously strengthen your faith.

We are powerless to control the outcome of the interactions in our lives but He is all powerful.

So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

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