A Spring Of Life

Isaiah 58:6-12

The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. (Isaiah 58:11)

ISRAEL HAD EXPERIENCED its share of deserts, and so have you. We live in a world of wildernesses, and sometimes we begin to think they are normal—that there is no Promised Land, no destiny overflowing with fruitfulness, no place of fulfillment and joy. But those who align their hearts with God find that there is. It doesn’t come without a journey, but it does come. God promises to be your source, the wellspring that makes the garden of your life flourish, the nourishment you need in any season. His watering first comes in you; then it comes through you into the lives of others; and then fruitfulness comes for you—usually in that order. We receive him as a gift, then share what we’ve been given, then receive an abundance of his blessings.

How do you water others’ lives and bear fruit? By choosing not to do what most people do: take their encounters with others at face value. Natural eyes see the outward demeanor of the people around them, and they react to what they see. We, however, are called to see past the surface and be sensitive. Deep inside, everyone is insecure, everyone is carrying disappointments, and everyone is trying their best to make life work. Some are still bearing the open wounds of an abusive childhood or the rejection of a loved one from long ago. Some are just going through a really hard time. Our job is to be like Jesus—to soften those who are hardened, to love the difficult-to-love, to show compassion to those who hurt, even when none of those things are on the surface. When we can’t see the pain behind the pose, we miss an opportunity to be an ever-flowing spring that waters the lives around us.

Don’t miss the opportunity. You have been refreshed with living waters; pour them out. You have been given nourishment; be fruitful by nourishing others. Let your own wounds be healed so you can be a healing salve to the wounded all around you. Become an ever-flowing stream.

{Lord, I’ve been far too focused on my own fulfillment, yet it comes most fully when I nourish and bless those around me. Turn my vision outward; let me see the wounded hearts that need your touch. Amen.