The little rental house that could.

My last house sat on 5 acres. When we purchased the property nothing was on the 40 acres behind us, but a developer purchased the land to build a neighborhood of condos. This affected me in several ways, but most noticeable was the water flow coming across our land every Spring and early Summer.

The developer created a detention pond for extreme rains, but it honestly did nothing to control the water rushing and gushing onto our property. The new water flow was so significant ruts were formed moving from one side of our land to the other.

This should have been disastrous. Right next to our home (on our 5 acre property), was a small rental house. It sat right in the middle of the new flow of water. Flooding was bound to happen.

Streams make glad

A river brings joy to the city of our God,
the sacred home of the Most High.
God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.
From the very break of day, God will protect it.  -Psalm 46:4-5

Psalm 46 is an interesting chapter. In the midst of chaos is a city on an island. Joy surrounds the city, and keeps it from being engulfed by the chaos. We are that city. Share on X

That was my little rental house. It knew chaos. Every year it rained – a lot. In one year alone we experienced two 100 year storms (a storm with a rainfall amount that has a 1% chance of happening in a year). With the water pattern flowing across our property, the house should have been flooded, maybe even destroyed.

This little house had one thing going for it. It sat on a hill (really more of a little bump) in the land. That bump was enough to move the water around the house and never through it.

We are a city of joy!

The Psalmist sings about the city in the middle. The city is Jerusalem – the most holy of holy places. Today, the Spirt of God resides in you. He resides in me.

Through Jesus, we are the most holy of holy places. God’s Spirit resides in us, so we are that city. Chaos swirls around us, but we don’t need to fear destruction. God protects us with streams of joy.

Here’s the great thing about joy. It doesn’t always make sense. Sometimes we experience joy when we absolutely shouldn’t. Joy can come when we should be feeling hurt, pain, fear or anger. In the chaos, God sends joy.

The next time you encounter a storm in your life, remember my little rental house in the midst of that 100 year storm. The hill may be slight, just a bump. It’s enough to keep you safe.

It may not look like it, but the streams surrounding you are joy!