Wells in the Desert
If you needed to cross a desert, you would take the shortest and hence, quickest route across, right? WRONG! Crossing a desert takes planning and strategy because one mistake could result in personal catastrophe. However much water you might take with you when you set out, it will be insufficient for the whole journey. So, a journey across a desert needs to be routed between oases, and particularly wells.
The great thing about wells is that they are constantly self-replenishing, and so are an essential resource across a desert because the wells can always be depended upon. This is what God meant when He said to Isaiah: The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Is. 12:2, 3)
Notice that the wells of salvation are plural. Why? A well-planned journey across a desert will ensure that the wells will be located as a lifeline dotted all along our route across a desert. In a spiritual context, God is our salvation, and our wells are the places and times where we are intentional in seeking out the refreshment of God’s presence. Such times are a lifeline in our journey across the barrenness and wilderness that life brings us each day. Jesus emphasised this in John 7:
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.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. (John 7:37 – 39)
Are you thirsty today? Are you parched, seemingly growing weaker with each passing day? Let us remember to plan our journey sensibly by intentionally seeking daily refreshment that only Jesus can provide. The following worship lyrics were written some years ago:
Let Your living water flow over my soul/ Let your Holy Spirit come and take control/
Of every situation that has troubled my mind/ All my cares and burdens on to you I roll
Let’s be in expectation for the refreshment of the Spirit that has the potential not only to refresh ourselves, but others around us………
Bill Sayer