Chapter 14 - Monday continued...
We arrived
at En Gev on the east side of the Sea of Galilee in the early evening. Our accommodations for the next two nights
were cottages right on the shore line of the lake. Called “Kibbutz”, these cottages are
actually run by a commune. This group of
people combine their skills and wealth and families and live together in an
agricultural setting. Even though we
were separated in groups of 2-4 in the cottages, we all came together in the
communal dining room to eat. The whole
setting was very clean and well organized.
Staying on
the shore of Galilee, I was next to heaven.
I had been waiting for this shore for a long time. There was something here I needed to experience,
to learn. I wanted to better understand
why God had brought me to the shore in my mind during times of deep
meditation. Having stood on this shore
so many times mentally, to be on it physically was a very moving experience for
me. I was the last person to leave the
beach and go in at night, and the first one out in the morning. At 5:30 a.m. I would get up and be out by the
water to watch the sun rise (what magnificent sun rises and sun sets they
were!) I wanted to capture every
possible moment I could on this shore line.
That first
night, in the blackness of the night, I looked across the sea to the city of
Tiberias on the hillside. The lights of
the city seemed at first like a million tiny flickering candles. Then as I gazed at them, it seemed that they
started sparkling like jewels. The lay
of the city on the hillside made it seem like the bottom of a staircase just
beginning to ascend into heaven. I
thought, “If the entry is this awesome, this beautiful, what must heaven itself
be like! It must be far too brilliant
for human eyes!”
I saw a
single light way down the shore on the other side of the lake, and I imagined
Jesus down there frying fish over an open fire, just waiting for me to join
Him. As I looked out across the waters
it seemed that I could see the flowing white robe of my Jesus walking on the
water, as though His feet did not touch.
He was walking toward me. I
sensed His presence all around me.
As I watched
the waves roll softly into the shore, I realized that everything I had gone
through in my depression was worth this moment.
I cannot believe that I might have ended my life and never have had the
opportunity to stand on the shore of Galilee in the presence of Jesus. Somehow I felt that no matter what comes my
way in the future, I know that with Jesus I can make it through. He holds my hand and will never let me
drown. We will walk on top of the
troubled waters together.
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