A longtime pastor and mentor in our lives, Bret Nicholson, has always said, “God gives us things we can see to understand the things we can’t.”
Well, God’s been teaching me lately with something we’ve had to learn a lot about since we moved to Wyoming, and that’s … Water. And it just so happens that water is used in teachings in the Bible a lot too!
From irrigating hay fields to making sure our livestock has water, to living on a well, water, which was honestly not something we really thought about much at all before, is something we think about and “see” daily. I feel like God has been leading me to share what He’s helped me to understand this summer through watching our water. So, here’s my attempt at that.
~ What God’s teaching me through irrigation ~
Wyoming is dry. And this summer has been especially so. Moving to Wyoming after only having lived in southern Indiana and Kentucky, we had not experienced a dry climate like this before. And we’re on a ranch where we need to grow hay to provide for our cows and horses through the winter, so we had to learn about irrigation right away.
For our hay fields and a couple pastures, we have pipe irrigation. So water from the creek that runs through our property is directed through pipes with these gates on them that can be opened to allow water out of the pipe or closed depending on where you want the water to come out. We open the gates in certain stretches of pipe to allow different sections of the land to be watered, and daily change which spots are getting watered.
-If we don’t open any gates, the pipes can burst.
This makes me think of this verse not about water but about the word of God being a fire in my bones … I cannot, should not, will not hold it in.
“But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot”
-If we leave the gates open in one single spot without ever moving the water to other areas, that one spot can actually die and the other spots will not live either.
Where is He leading me to move? Am I stuck?
-There are times the water is flowing strong and steady and we can open lots and lots of gates; there are times when the flow is smaller … still there, but not reaching as much.
This one is a little tricky because if He is the living water, He does not change. But we do … our circumstances do … our faith ebbs and flows. When we allow the waters to flow regardless of circumstances and feelings, it brings much more life.
-When the water is flowing strong, not only the area we intend to water gets nourished, but the water will seep out into surrounding sections of land that receive the benefits of the water as well.
You don’t know the impact that living a life devoted to following Jesus and His ways can have … the more He’s allowed to overflow from your heart and life, the more areas of your life and people in this world will be reached.
-Some fields that haven’t gotten a whole lot of water may seem dry and dead and without hope, but when the waters reach them, they turn green and come to life.
In Ezekiel 37 there was a valley of dry bones. The Lord breathed life into those dry bones to show that the Israelites were not too far gone. He brings dead things to life. There is always hope.
“Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
~What God’s teaching me through our well ~
One day this spring, I was cleaning our house, and I noticed the water pressure wasn’t great. Then not too long later, there was no water at all. We checked the well wondering if it had run dry, but the well wasn’t the problem.
There was plenty of water in the well; it just wasn’t getting to the house because the well pump was busted.
Jesus offers “living water” that never runs dry. But we have to have our “homes” – our lives – connected to that source of living water. A book that several years ago had a big impact on my life and my faith, called I Dared to Call Him Father by Bilquis Sheikh, is about a Muslim woman’s path to finding Jesus and the personal relationship she discovered she could have with Him. I remember being struck with and humbled by how desperate she was to be in the presence of God. Once she believed in Jesus and started following Him, she would recognize when she was far from Him and the weakness to temptation and fear that would result. She knew if she remained in God’s Word (at the risk of her life) and in continuous prayer with Him, she would experience the strength and peace that only comes from Him.
Another book with this same type of message and impact on me is River Dwellers by Rob Reimer, about living in the fullness of the Spirit.
We get so comfortable in our present world … do we forget Him?
Am I desperate for His presence, His voice, His guidance? Or would I rather just numb out and scroll on my phone forgetting all else around me?
As David said, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
I took our water from the well for granted, assuming it would always just be in our house. But we had to have the connection (the pump), including the power (if the power goes out, the well pump will not work!) to get the water to our home.
~What God’s teaching me through our creek~
I’m so thankful for the small creek that runs through our property. It provides the water for our irrigation and it provides water for our livestock. This summer, the creek has been lower than I’ve seen it since we moved here four and a half years ago. I watch daily as it continues to go down and wonder if it will actually run dry.
There is a passage in the Bible where the prophet Jeremiah – who had a very tough calling by the way and was very alone in His calling – he asked God, “Will you be to me like a deceptive brook?” A deceptive brook is a stream of water that appears to be nice and strong and reliable but can disappear, particularly in the summer and dry weather. Jeremiah is basically asking if God is going to leave him high and dry.
I love God’s answer. “I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord.”
He is no deceptive brook. He is an ocean. He calls His people to hard things … to stand alone in this world, to look different, to act different, to speak His Word, to be light in the darkness. But we are not alone. He will make me a wall of bronze, (Bronze: “Known for its strength, corrosion resistance, and ability to hold fine detail”) and He will always be with me.
Toward the end of the year 2012 I felt God challenging me. What do you stand for? What is it in your life you really care about? And does everyone around you know the answer to those questions? What’s holding you back from sharing about your relationship with me? With much fear and trepidation I followed His call to start writing about His Word and what He was teaching me. I spent 2013 sharing every single day what I was discovering about God’s character and my relationship with Him. It was a -read through the Bible in a year with me- blog, called “Thirsty.”
During that time and for a while after that I felt like rivers of water were flowing in my heart and life. But as life and challenges and darkness and selfishness and disappointments come and go, there have also been dry stretches – times when I don’t remember that He is the One that makes rivers in deserts, times when I get quiet or fearful about sharing His Word instead of letting it flow and touch every area of my life. But I want to stay thirsty … desperate for His presence … connected to the source of life and light … saturated with His Spirit and overflowing.
Isaiah 44:3-4 – For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.
We are a dry and thirsty land. Come Lord Jesus, come.
And believers … let the river flow …
