God Speaking

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.

(John 7:38)

All of us are aware of the life giving properties of water, but my husband and I have been watching a series on the T.V. which displayed how dramatically this plays out in the desert. We watched in awe as a piece of barren sandy landscape, which had been bereft of rain for months, sprang to life as it was drenched with rain. One of the episodes, filmed in Australia, showed a particular frog emerging from the sodden earth, after being in a dormant state for years. Another episode showed the power water had to even carve valleys, changing the actual terrain on which it was falling.

Any of us who have lived in hot countries know how important water is for life to exist and one of God’s beautiful promises to his people contains these words;

“Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.” (Isaiah 32:2)

Our lives can sometimes feel like being in a dry and dusty desert. Signs of blossoming life seem strangely absent. We go through the motions, but joy seems to elude us. We may even feel the Lord has forgotten us, but strangely enough these times often precede startling new changes the Lord is wanting to activate in our lives;

“See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19)

The secret to discovering what the Lord is planning for us, is to draw close to him as revelation often doesn’t come in a dramatic powerful way, but in a whisper. Elijah was experiencing a desert time in his life when he was discouraged, burnt out and ready to give up (1 Kings 19:9- 12) He had to wait through a powerful wind, an earthquake and a fire before he heard the Lord whisper to him. Being alert to the Lord’s whisper means active listening and we do that through prayer and reading his word and spending time worshipping him.

So what did Jesus mean when he said that those of us who believe in him will flow with “streams of living water”?

When Jesus speaks of this living water, he is not only talking of the new life it will bring for us, he is urging us to discover how we can allow this miraculous water to flow from us to bring life to others.

God graciously refreshes and restores Elijah, but the renewed prophet is immediately called back to action as God’s servant (1 Kings 19:15). This is true for us as well; the life giving streams that change the desert surrounding us are to be used for God’s glory in doing the same for others so that his Spirit will dispel all that is barren in his children’s lives.

“Till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.” (Isaiah 32:15)