rivers | considering the word

But now, this is what the Lord says–He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;…Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west…’. Is. 43:1-3, 5

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Is. 43:18-19

Go forth, with Him!

jamie

Pr. 18:4: “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook.”

We are not born wise. Just this morning, as my children began their day and sat down for breakfast and a Saturday morning TV show, my daughter was rude to my son 3 times in about 3 minutes. Him making a noise was the reason she couldn’t count. His coughing, with his mouth covered, meant he was coughing on her. Her putting her finger in his face was just a joke. Apparently this is the day when she is entitled and everything he does is absolutely wrong.

I had to remind her that her attitude was showing that her heart was not housing kindness or love, and invited her to pray about it and stop, or go back to bed. She is still sitting at the table with us, so I am hoping that means that wisdom is taking over. Time will tell.

There were a few verses in Pr. 18 that would have been appropriate with this situation, but I like this one best. I like the positive note of this particular verse.

It is true that the words of our mouths come from deep places. The deep, secret places of our hearts contain what we truly feel and believe. Out of those places, flow the words we speak. It is clear that deep in my daughter’s heart right now there are places of pride, selfishness, bitterness, and dishonesty. Now, not to pick on my baby girl (who just yesterday offered to buy the same brother a new Batman sword as he cried over the pieces of the one he had just broken) the same could probably be said of any of us. We are all imperfect in our flesh. We live in a fallen, sin-cursed world and will not be perfect until the Lord makes all things new.

What is encouraging to me is that with time, experience, study, prayer, and teaching, we can become people whose hearts are filled with more and more of God. As we read the Beatitudes over and over, we are reminded that the peacemakers, the merciful, the meek, and the pure are blessed. Spending years of our lives in submission to God reminds us that He is ultimately in control and will fulfill our every need. Filling our hearts with His love, His wisdom, His percepts, and His promises cleanses the deep places and purifies the waters.

As our hearts become more full of God and less full of ourselves, His wisdom can take over and the brook that will flow from our mouths will indeed be a wellspring of the wisdom deep inside. If you’re not perfect today, take heart, each moment that you spend with God purifies you deep inside. The wellspring within you grows purer and holds more Living Water. Until we are made new, we will never be perfect, but God can use us now to be a wellspring for those around us.

Cheers!

jamie