Jesus is to a life as rain is to a stream.
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Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that a stream without movement is no stream at all. A stream is defined by the constant flow of water; when the current stops the stream becomes stagnant and ceases to be a stream.
I started thinking about this oxymoron, a stagnant stream, on an outdoors outing with my husband and children. We made our way over to the bridge, but instead of being welcomed by the bubbling trickles of the water that normally flowed underneath, the creek was silent. Small pools of water were confined in the rocks that formed isolated, miniature ponds which sentenced all life trapped therein to an inevitable death. The only sounds that could be heard were the monotone humming of gnats and flies that swarmed over the stale and pungent deathbeds of the tiny minnows that struggled in such a confinement. By the description, you would think it was an unbearable place to be, but in actuality, it was really a wonderful place for my children to explore and for us to enjoy the cool evening on the dry rock bed. Places that were normally covered with water were easier to examine and probe especially for my three and four-year-old explorers. From the pictures, you probably would not think much about the fact that this place was suffering from a dry spell.
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| Beautiful sunlight streaming through the tree foliage. |
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| Traces of green life. |
What's missing is the water flow. The creek's current that sustains the life of the fish and purity of the water has ceased functioning, therefore, what formally was the oxygen source for many living creatures has now become a graveyard.
Why? Why is the stream dry? It's simple really. It needs rain.
An ordinary commodity, just some plain ol' rain, would grant back this dusty rock bed's intended functionality, and yet, the rock bed is powerless, a mere vessel in which the water is distributed by but without a water source, it is unable to accommodate the life that suffers in its midst.
Why? Why is the stream dry? It's simple really. It needs rain.
An ordinary commodity, just some plain ol' rain, would grant back this dusty rock bed's intended functionality, and yet, the rock bed is powerless, a mere vessel in which the water is distributed by but without a water source, it is unable to accommodate the life that suffers in its midst.
Like the rock bed, we are dry and helpless without the enabling of Jesus who provides the eternal water of life that overflows through us to the people in our world. We can not save ourselves or anyone else for that matter. It is only Jesus, the Source of our salvation, who grants us the ability to function at maximum capacity so that we may be a vessel that Jesus can run through and pour out true, lasting life. Ironically, we grow casually comfortable with a dry life while we are dying from thirst and the people around us are spiritually suffocating. The clean, pure water we once tasted has been forgotten and we settle for stale, lukewarm, cloudy spiritual drinks that leave us parched and dysfunctional. We are useless in this thirsty desert wasteland, yet we are content turning over the same rocks and merely playing childish games. Instead we should be looking up to heaven praying for Jesus to reign in you and in me.
Why? Why is my life dry? It's simple really. I need Jesus.
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Psalms 63:1
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 Spout:
Wow! Beautifully said! I have never thought of it that way before. I may never look at a stream the same way again!!!
That is so true. It reminds me of a sermon series by John Ortberg called the Flow. It is all about the Holy Spirit and how we are to live in the flow of the Holy Spirit and when we do, we grow and mature and become more like Christ. When we choose to step out of the flow or allow it to dry up we become just like you described.
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