Selfless Surrender

Image taken from Google Earth

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines confluence as “a coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point.” In geography, it is known as a point where two rivers meet and flow into one another.

It is actually a pretty fascinating thing to see. Evidently, there are many confluences around the world, but there are 10 notably ones. One such confluence is the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimões in Manaus, Brazil. The coffee color river, Rio Solimões (aka Amazon River), gets its color from the Andes Mountains and the black color of the Rio Negro (black river) gets it’s color from the rich rain forest’s decaying matter. What makes this particular confluence interesting is the two rivers run side by side without intermixing for approximately 3.7 miles.

The reason why they stay separated for that length of distance is because the Rio Negro is warmer (82°F) and flows at a rate of 1.2MPH whereas the Rio Solimões is cooler (72°F) and flows at a rate of 2.5-3.7MPH.

I have been thinking about this amazing geological phenomenon and how beautiful it is. While pondering its interesting features, I began to think about God and our relationship with Him.

I think that if we are intuitively listening, we will discover that God is always speaking. There are hints of His beauty displayed everywhere and hints of His deep love for those who seek Him. Sometimes life can become littered with so many distractions, that we can find ourselves less observant of these amazing mysteries God has placed before us. When I finally understand something, I can’t believe how blind I’d been previously and it becomes almost impossible to unsee it.

Take a closer look at the image above. Look at the Rio Negro and how it very slowly begins the process of fully intertwining with the Rio Solimões. However, when the two rivers converge, they don’t immediately become one river, the process takes time and the transformation is gradual. After all, the Rio Negro is moving slower and more steadily whereas the Rio Solimões is moving quicker and more hastily.

As I was studying Google Earth and reading about these two rivers, I thought of how those rivers somewhat symbolize how our relationship with the Lord works. Here we are going about our lives, doing what we think is best and suddenly, we come in contact with God.

God was there all along, but we are just now becoming aware of His presence. When we come to Him and acknowledge His presence, He is patient with our lack of understanding and immaturity. It’s interesting to think that God doesn’t immediately reveal all of who He is. The process is slow, and mostly dependent upon our willingness to trust Him.

As we walk in faith towards God, we draw nearer and the internal transformation begins to take place. The transformation is gradual, and at times it may seem like nothing is happening at all and you are not changing, but you are headed in the right direction. Like when the two rivers meet, they don’t immediately mix into one. Instead, they run side-side in the same direction. God is allowing you time to develop and time to conform, while at the same time, He is gently guiding you, nudging you along in the right direction.

There may even be times where you desire to quickly jump into a full-fledged intimate relationship with Him, but upon a closer examination, it’s discovered that you may have parts of you that is not willing to fully surrender. God will not impose Himself upon you and neither will He push you along to a place you are not ready for.

As the two rivers slowly converge, so it is when a person becomes a born-again Christian. The Holy Spirit enters into the soul of the new believer and the transformation begins. The transformation of the believer into becoming like Christ is a life-long process. As Christ becomes more important, you become more invisible.

If you look closely, the Rio Solimões, the coffee color river turns the Rio Negro brown. The black river changes to look like the Rio Solimões. As you slowly conform into the likeness of Christ, traces of who you used to be becomes less noticeable.