Surviving Chaos

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

As a college student studying to become a minister, one of my professors told me that “…we are only as deep as the well we dig.” I always understood that to be the life experiences we had to draw from and the books that we may have read. But as I focused on some much needed personal time with God this morning the phrase began to take on a different meaning.

I’m currently reading a book called A Way through the Wilderness by Jamie Buckingham. Its an older book (copyright 1983) but I have found it to be interesting. Over the past few weeks I have been digesting this book a chapter at a time as a way to get closer to God. The main premise of the book is that God sometimes leads us through the deserts of life to teach and prepare us for the life he intends for us to live. The author uses the trek of the Israelites through the desert as his main thrust. He also uses visible illustrations straight from the desert to describe what the Israelites must have been experiencing and describes his own desert experiences to hammer the lessons home.

Today, I read the chapter on Living waters and how in the desert no one can go long without water. A person can go without food for 14-21 days before the body starts shutting down. A person can only survive 3-5 days without water. And in the desert this is considerably less. So people, animals, and vegetation have had to adapt to the harsh living conditions of the desert. So in the desert there are three basic sources of water: cisterns, wells, and springs.

What caught my attention was the comparison the author made between wells, cisterns, and springs. He brought to the forefront that wells and cisterns are man made systems of providing water. We have to dig deep to find the water but neither a cistern nor a well are a sure source of water. Eventually the water can run out. A spring on the other hand is a source of certain water. It can be trusted upon. Though storms come and cover the oasis that may be there, the spring will eventually make it back to the surface for someone to drink from.

As Christians we need to be leery of wells and cisterns. We can look at Religion and forget about the source of our strength; Jesus Christ. We can get caught up in doing good or living a “holy life” that we forget to Love God and Love one another. We need to remember that God is the source of our living water. He should be the spring welling up in each of us. What about you? Are you relying on the Spiritual well or cistern you dug or does your source of Spiritual water come from the Spring of God? Dig your well close to the Spring and you won’t run dry!