In California where I live, we have been facing drought conditions for several years. The solution to a drought crisis is obviously water. Even in the best of times there is not enough rainfall to supply all of the needs in Southern California. We depend upon rivers and aqueducts to bring the water to us.
It is impossible to sustain life, physically or spiritually, without water. The Psalmist declared, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1 (NIV) David may have been in the desert when he wrote these words, but his overwhelming thirst is for God rather than H2O. In Scripture, water often represents the refreshing and life that comes from the Holy Spirit.
Jesus was speaking of the promise of the Holy Spirit when he said, “Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ ” John 7:38 (NLT) Because of the Holy Spirit we are able to take in and receive the living water and it is given to us freely and abundantly, but too often we function as reservoirs rather than rivers. Because of the drought conditions in California, there are penalties for allowing water to flow freely. There are restrictions on how much water you can have and everywhere that you turn you are faced with messages commanding you to conserve the precious water.
Too many Christians operate as though there is a shortage of living water from the Holy Spirit. Some appear to be hoarding it for themselves, perhaps because they do not understand that there is a limitless supply. In fact, it is impossible to conserve living water. Living water, by its very nature, is water that is meant to flow freely to benefit those who are thirsty around us. God gives us the living water, but it is up to us to open up our hearts so that it may flow freely. We must be released from “drought mentality,” which causes us to restrict the outflow from our hearts.
If we are dry and thirsty, it is because we are craving things that do not satisfy. Jesus was engaged in conversation with a Samaritan woman when he explained the nature of living water. “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13–14 (NIV) When we receive the water that comes from Jesus, we realize that all of those things that we longed after in an effort to quench our thirst were temporary at best. He gives us a supply of water that increases and brings us to eternal life. The words of the song “Fill My Cup” expresses it well.
Like the woman at the well, I was seeking for things that could not satisfy.
And then I heard my Savior speaking—“Draw from My well that never shall run dry.”
Fill my cup, Lord;
I lift it up Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.
There are millions in this world who are seeking for pleasures earthly goods afford.
But none can match the wondrous treasure that I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.
The prophet Hosea appealed to the people to return to God for healing and restoration and he gave them this promise: “In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” Hosea 6:2–3 (NLT)
I do not know how to solve the drought in California, but the solution to the spiritual drought is to allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us and out of us. The rains are coming.