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EXPERIENCING GOD IN UNEXPECTED PLACES: A BELIZE CAVE

By: Sarah Bishop

Posted: June 24, 2022

Category: Daily Devotional

Isaiah 42:5-9

Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
I tell you of them.

Nohoch Che’en Caves Branch Archaeological Reserve, Belize – After a mile walk, we gather in groups of eight to float the spring river through the caves, as our guide leads the group with history and imagination, closing each topic with a Belizean catch-phrase; “seeing is Belize-ing.’ I experienced God in that darkness, as I did not turn on my headlamp and allowed my eyes adjust and catching the light from fellow travelers or at one point a natural hole in the limestone down to the caves below. God was in the sparkle of stalagmites and stalactites and those stone that seem to sparkle only in cave light. Listening between the voices of the cave tubing guides to the water flow and lap against the sides of the cave and feeling the water between my toes. I floated in awe to the beauty and uniqueness this traveling provided and gave thanks.

Prayer

Almighty God, who has claimed us Your own. We ask through this prayer that You will make us more aware of You within our hearts. Though Your love is as timeless as the sunshine and the lap at the water’s edge, may this moment fill us with the awe, the wonder, and the blessed peace only Your Son can provide. Amen.