DRAWING WATER FROM THE LORD’S WELL

One of the great wonders of America is the incredible New York aqueduct. Made of bricks, it is all underground and runs for miles and miles from upstate, bringing water to this metropolis. What would happen if that aqueduct were cut off and suddenly there was no water supply flowing to the city? New York City would become a “parched place . . . a salt land and not inhabited” (Jeremiah 17:6). We can exist without gas but not without water.

The same thing happens in our lives! When people lose hope, rather than run to the Lord they clam up and run inward. They curl up on the inside and give up hope, and their hearts become a parched place, a salt land.

Today many Christians are experiencing overwhelming despair, much like what I have just described. But God is saying this to His people: “You are in despair because you do not trust in Me. You turn to others—to doctors, to friends, to counselors, to medicine, to finances. You are not uplifted by My promises; you feel dry, empty and lonely because you are not drawing water from My well.”

In Jeremiah 18:13-14 God points out an incredibly horrible sin being committed by His own people. “Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? Or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?”

What is this horrible thing God’s people are committing?

Like the cold, refreshing waters that flow down from melting snow, God gives an unceasing supply of power to His people. This water is the water of strength, available and unfailing. Yet God’s people often continue on their way—dry, empty and sad, saying, “We have been left to ourselves. We’ll just go our own forsaken way, unwanted!”

This is a picture of despairing Christians who have forgotten the promises of God, who sit dejected beside a flowing stream of God’s love, thinking, “The Lord is not at work in my life. I’m just going to have to grit my teeth and do the best I can. It’s no use hoping anymore. I have to do what I can to survive!”