Worries and the water of life
- Kristina Trott
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
The most common reason people seek out counsellors or psychologists (according to anecdotal reports from my friends in those vocations) is for dealing with anxiety, fear, depression and stress. Anxiety can result from fear about relationships, finances, health, or even changes in life circumstances such as moving house, death of a loved one, arrival of a new baby, starting a new job or isolation from friends and family.
With those thoughts in mind, I read this morning:
2
See, God has come to save me.
I will trust in him and not be afraid.
The Lord God is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.”
3
With joy you will drink deeply
from the fountain of salvation! “(Isa. 12:2-3 NLT).
Isaiah is simply saying that he won’t be fearful and anxious because God is there and God will be his strength and he will drink with joy of God’s salvation.
Isaiah penned these words while living in Israel with its parched and dry summer. (So many writers of the Bible, aware of their great need for water, picked up on the link between water and salvation, but I’ll leave that thought here).
In Israel people had cisterns and even large stone jars to store water for use over the hot dry summers. Can you imagine the dependence these people had on the winter rain and their need to collect and conserve precious water? It would have been a delight and joy to find fresh water from a fountain.
So Isaiah is telling us that when we trust in God, we will draw fresh flowing water from Him. He’s telling us that we may be dry and arid, our life circumstances may be dire and hopeless, but when we turn our hearts to God, we will be sustained with His life-giving water. No need to turn to our own resources and protect what little we have, but abandon ourselves to God and He will supply your needs with great abundance. He is, after all, Yahweh Yireh, the LORD our Provider.
More particularly, it’s Jesus that we drink from (1 Cor. 10:4) and it is Him who gives us “a spring of water satisfying (our) thirst for God welling up (continually flowing, bubbling within (us)) to eternal life.” (John 4:14 Amp).
So our worries disappear when we trust in Jesus. When we turn all our fears and concerns over to Him, we find a peace and calm:
“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28 NLT).
It is Jesus who gives us more than our earthly needs, though. Jesus alone gives us the water, without cost, that leads to everlasting life. Trust in Him, and your soul will delight in abundance for eternity.
1 “Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink—
even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk—
it’s all free!
2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the finest food.
3 “Come to me with your ears wide open.
Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.
4 See how I used him to display my power among the peoples.
I made him a leader among the nations.
5 You also will command nations you do not know,
and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey,
because I, the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”
(Isa. 55:1-5 NLT).
Comments