Call Us : 540-828-0890                Mail Us : adminasst@bridgewaterumc.com

Thursday Thoughts

September 7, 2023

Mercy sakes, isn’t it dry? It has been a while since we have experienced a drought with accompanying high temperatures. I know we all have been praying for rain and watching the weather maps for relief to come our way. There is a joke about a place experiencing drought and the minister told parishioners to gather and pray for the skies to open up. Once they show up he starts yelling at them and criticizing them for their lack of faith. “But we have faith, we are here!” somebody answers. To which the minister angrily answers: “Where are your umbrellas then?”

We know it will rain eventually and the water table will rise once again. The ponds will be filled and the trees will take a deep drink. The rivers will be replenished and we will rejoice. So much of what happens in nature can find a parallel in our spiritual lives. Have you ever experienced a spiritual drought? There are many verses in scripture about the harm that comes from an empty spiritual well. The Psalms offer us some beautiful remedies for a parched and weary heart. One of my favorites is Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deep pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”

Isn’t it a worrisome and weary feeling to be separated from God? For sure, God didn’t go anywhere, but we will sometimes let ourselves be moved in a direction that is opposite of him. We may get complacent, lazy, and filled with anger or grief that causes us to take our attention away from where it should be. We may or may not realize what is happening to us until we realize that our spiritual thirst is powerful and overwhelming. That is one of the reasons to associate with other believers. We can carry water to one another. There was a little story that I read once that took place in a community in the Midwest several years ago. There was a severe drought and the people had to conserve every drop of water. The outside spigot on a particular house had a slow drip. The little boy who lived there was an explorer. He was out in the fields and the forest and was observant and compassionate. As he was in the edge of the woods he came upon a young fawn dying of thirst. Since his parents had warned him not to turn on the outdoor faucet, he sat with cupped hands and waited until his hands held water that dripped ever so slowly from the faucet then he rushed to the fawn. He did this over and over. His mother saw him from the kitchen window and went outdoors to admonish him for wasting water. He explained that she needed to see what was going on. She watched him sit patiently near the faucet with his little cupped hands catching every drop of precious water and she went with him as he rushed to the fawn’s side to give a life-giving sip of water to one of God’s creatures. After she saw what her precious boy was doing, she found an old container, filled it with water, and sent him on his way to care for the thirsty creature. What a wonderful lesson on how we can lend support and encouragement to those who are thirsty, both physically and spiritually.

It has been weeks since we have had any measurable rain and as I walk around my property the ground is cracked, almost all the plants are wilting, and some are dropping their leaves prematurely to conserve water. I have to pick and choose which shrubs and perennials I will water, even though my well is 775 feet deep, I don’t want to gamble on losing this live-giving resource. But oddly, the grass is green and growing on one portion of my property. There is a spring not far under the ground that has kept the trees and grass watered in that area. They are green and prospering. In Psalm 1:3 we are reminded that if we are rooted in the one true Father we will be secure. “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”

When Jesus went to the Festival of Tabernacles he taught in the Temple courts. “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’” John 7:37-38

What is the work of us who call ourselves Christ followers? Are we visiting the well of Living Water and keeping ourselves hydrated? Are rivers of living water flowing from us? Are we sharing with others who are thirsty and need the power of the Living Water? Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that if she believed she would never be spiritually thirsty again, “Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Let the water flow.

Pray for rain and carry an umbrella.

Blessings,

Becky

Bridgewater UMC 

Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!  

219 N Main Street

Bridgewater, VA 22812

Call Us : +1 (540) 828-0890

Email Us : adminasst@bridgewaterumc.com