Well-watered

Well-Watered

Three mornings a week, just before five in the morning, my lawn and flower beds are watered—but not by me. I am almost always asleep when the watering takes place, but through a programmed design more consistent than rain, refreshing comes. It happens whether I am awake or asleep, at home or away, anticipating or being surprised by it.

The first time I heard the watering, I was still adjusting to the sounds of a new house. I didn’t expect to hear gurgling and hissing in the predawn darkness, and it startled me awake. Was something amiss?

A bleary-eyed, barefoot reconnaissance led me to the front lawn, where a fine mist was settling on the grass. The paving stones in the flower beds were glistening too. Drops were clinging to the towering magnolia, the just-bloomed agapanthus, and the knockout roses, and I could smell the wet earth embracing their roots. They were being watered—and watered well—while I was sleeping a few feet away, oblivious to the goodness going on when I wasn’t looking.

I’ve just recently become aware of this watering by an unseen hand, but it’s been going on much longer than I have been in residence here. Every dark night of my life—literal or figurative—I am being watered. God is giving rest and dreams and relief from the stress of daily living while I slumber. He is refreshing me through the hours of darkness with a living water I cannot conjure or command. He is bringing life to my sleeping soul in ways I do not expect or comprehend. I don’t often recognize his watering when it takes place. More often, I arise and see its evidence: freshness where there was decay; hope where there was despair; nourishment where my heart’s cupboard was growing bare.

This morning, if I walk outside early enough and take notice, the grass will be glistening, the stones and sidewalk will be wet, and the earth will hold enough water to withstand the blistering heat of another day. And because my God is the source and supply of all refreshing springs, my soul will be well watered too.

He split open the rocks in the wilderness to give them water, as from a gushing spring. He made streams pour from the rock, making the waters flow down like a river!”

Psalm 78:15-16