Drawing from the Reserve

A careful look the Sonoran Desert will reveal the broad brush of the landscape beautifully arrayed in a variety of greens, browns and russets. The cacti are carefully painted with brilliant colors, and yet all these thrive in adverse conditions. Little wonder the Lord moved my husband and me to Tucson just before the cancer diagnosis came to call at my door.

Though there are a plethora of beautiful vistas to marvel at, moving here has required some adjustment. National weather maps display summer highs in Tucson hovering around 120 degrees. Learning about desert living includes a few fun facts. Did you know cacti are designed to act like camels, with the ability to store water in their plant bodies and draw water from their own reserve in a drought? 

One striking example from Scripture on how we can build a reserve for times of trial is described in John 4.  A woman so obviously stained by the sorrows of the world stops at a well to draw ordinary water. Quite unexpectedly, however, the Savior of the world happens by on a day known only to Him, and this visit changes her life forever. Except for a connection to the Patriarch Jacob, there’s nothing special about this well or its water. What does make this well exceptional is that Jesus is there to offer this ordinary woman the opportunity to never thirst again, to have an endless supply of God’s Word in her heart and on her tongue and lips. She gladly accepts the Lord’s offer of forgiveness and with a rejoicing spirit immediately begins spreading His fame throughout the land.

Has Jesus dropped in on you lately, without prior notice, ready to pour forth His Word – His pure and living water which never runs dry? Are you in a trial, drawing from the well of the many truths learned through time spent alone with the Lord?  Just as the cactus flower survives the time of testing by drawing upon the reserve, so must we.

“Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:13-14)

“But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them… However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:4, 13)

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