Hurricane Florence Thoughts – Stagnant Water
As was forecasted days in advance, Hurricane Florence brought an absolutely amazing amount of rain. I have never seen that much rain in my lifetime – and we “only” received just over a foot. This is what it looked like in one town about 30 minutes from us…
Although our home did not suffer any damage from flooding, for which we are very thankful, we did have much standing water. The ground was so saturated that rain began to form puddles all over our yard. Unfortunately, this stagnant water was the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos. (Have I ever mentioned that mosquitos just love me?? Let me assure you, folks…the feelings are not mutual!) The problem was not water in itself. The problem was standing water…water that had no outlet therefore it quickly became stagnant. You know what? Stagnant water stinks.
This reminds me of Christians who continually take in Bible truths yet are not giving those truths out to others via teaching, preaching, one-on-one discipling, writing, witnessing, texts or calls, notes of encouragement, etc. Bible truths are meant to enter into a believer’s heart and flow right on through to someone else. When this does not happen, the result is standing water in a Christian’s heart which will eventually produce a stagnant individual. No, stagnation in a person’s heart will not literally produce mosquitos, but it is most likely to produce pride and very often a rather smelly disposition.
Are we receiving fresh waters…fresh truth from God’s Word each day? If not, why not? How are we growing without it?
If we are indeed taking in fresh water each day from our own personal time with the Lord, what are we doing with it? Would our lives depict a fresh flowing stream or a stagnant pond? If your answer is the latter, may I encourage you to ask the Lord to give you an outlet from which fresh water can flow? One does not need to be a Bible scholar in order to be a “rippling brook”. Allowing Bible truth to flow from us can be as simple as sharing a verse from our daily Bible reading. Anyone can do that. If a particular verse was an encouragement to us, we can be assured that someone else will be encouraged as well…if we will become that stream. Remember, stagnant water stinks. This evening, won’t you allow the Lord to use you as a conduit of fresh water to some thirsty soul?
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37,38