Devotion 3 - Be Still

Psalm 46:10
10 "Be still, and know that I am God;I will be exalted among the nations,I will be exalted in the earth."

A good friend called yesterday wanting to know if I could sneak away from work for a short trip to the Elk. A good friend, one of those guys you can count on to be there –never complaining even if it’s February and you flipped the canoe – twice.
Not wanting to disappoint such a good and loyal friend I took a vacation day today and we headed off to the Elk hoping the river would be fairly empty of people but full of willing fish. On the hour long trip to the river we caught up on each others’ lives. You know, the kind of guy discussions that you have in a car on the way to the river where you’re making sure your friend is OK without actually asking outright. We quickly reassured each other that life was progressing within acceptable limits and we were surviving then the talk turned to our next planned trips to new waters – he to the West and me traveling East. It’s early May with clear skies and gentle spring breezes. Wonder of wonders the river is almost completely empty of people and the fish immediately begin to cooperate. The fish were not huge but stockers mostly that are fun to throw a fly to. I was drifting midges just under the surface and every few casts I would have a take, land the fish, smile, release, and! cast a gain. My friend started upstream without quite the same success and we exchanged information on fly selection and depth. After a bit my friend moved around me to a lower pool and started catching fish with even greater regularity.
Anyway, it’s the kind of gentle day on the river we all need every once in a while. Maybe it’s the kind of day that is the reason we fish. The kind of day where you’re standing in a river and you’re simply, truly, comfortably happy. That’s the kind of day it was. And then Psalm 46:10 hit me as I looked around God’s creation and I knew again this was no mathematical accident, this was creation at its finest.