John 7:37-38
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them."
The river will find its course, I recall Miss Crabtree, my geography teacher, saying. But it will be influenced by the terrain, by the obstacles in its way. Yes, it will find its way down to the great sea, as it should, but there will be a few detours along the way. Its course will not be a direct one.
Then I learned about a river’s 'rejuvenation': When it gets to its wide meandering stage, in its lower course, the river will slow. It looks like the hard work has been done, there's only a little way to go before it joins the sea. But if later it hits hard rock, a restricting of the course it was seeking to follow, it will return to its narrower, fiercer youth. It will flow faster, with a stronger current to force its way forward. The
meandering will end, the white-water will return. The river is 'rejuvenated'.
The river will do all it can to get to the great sea, fighting its way to the finish. It will get noisy, and the going will get rough. But the river will reach its intended destination – the sea.
The river is you. The hard rock... you know what that is. It's different for each of us.
God has given you what you need to rejuvenate, to rediscover the fierceness in your faith, you will find a way to the great sea.
By the way, I also recall Miss Crabtree saying that the faster moving turbulent water typically contains a greater concentration of oxygen, which supports greater biodiversity than the slower moving water. Faster rivers mean more life.
God knows what he’s doing.
