Water on the Rocks

Riding through the mountains in North Carolina, we passed many rushing streams and creeks. The water running over the rocks was beautiful. In places it ran quickly, rushing over the various rocks, making little waterfalls. In other places, it ran slower, often just trickling over the rocks. No matter how it was flowing, it was beautiful.

Leaning into one curve, I happened to notice a particular rocky stream with the water rushing quickly over the rocks, and I began to think…the longer that water runs over those rocks, the smoother they will become. I thought about how God designed it and created it. That’s about the time it felt as if the Lord whispered in my helmet and said, “I am the Living Water. This is what I am doing with your life.”

Wow! How profound a statement! But I understood it. Since He healed me of so many mental and emotional scars, Jesus has been working on smoothing out the rough spots here and there. He patiently works in areas that I have difficulty with, and in areas that are not much of a problem for me, He gently glides over, smoothing away those areas so that I can move on to better things.

I also began to think about how necessary water is in our lives. We need water to live. We drink it to hydrate and heal our bodies, so we can stay healthy. We use it to cook with, to work with, to wash with. Water is necessary for life. We also need Jesus to live. He hydrates our souls, heals our bodies, keeps us healthy, and washes us clean of our imperfections and sins.

Jesus is able to heal us in an instant. But often He uses our imperfections and our rough edges to help us learn and grow. The things in our lives that cause us pain most often are the things the Lord uses to help us help others. If we have gone through it, we can help others who are going through it, too. This is why He has given me the ability and boldness to write about my experiences overcoming oppression and depression.

Although living that way was not fun, and I often wondered why I was suffering and no one else could see it, Jesus saw it and saw the opportunity to use me to help someone else. When He healed me, Jesus, the Living Water, rushed through me, first washing away the unnecessary things. Then, He replaced those rough, jagged edges with a smoothness, giving me something to use to show others that yes, you too can be healed and still survive.

As the water in the mountains runs over the rocks in the streams, smoothing out rough edges over time, Jesus does the same thing with us. Sometimes the water is soothing. Sometimes it is rough and rapid. But no matter which runs through your life, if it is Jesus the Living Water, you can bet that you’ll come out of the rapids a beautiful, smooth, stone shining like a gem.