Stir the stagnant waters
In my last post, I talked about learning to be still and recently I heard an analogy that hit me like a ton of bricks. One of the pastors of my church said this (I am paraphrasing since I do not remember it word for word) "As the worship pastor was leading and she was talking about a river I had this picture in my mind. A river that does not stay still. The waves are constantly moving and the moment that it stops to move the waters becomes stagnant. It becomes muggy, it smells really bad and it does not move. We need to be still but we also need to move while we are waiting on the Lord. The moment we don't move is the moment we become stagnant." That really stuck to me because in this season in my life I am learning to be still and wait on the Lord but, I am also learning how to listen to the voice of God because He is moving powerfully in my life. It is so easy to get comfortable and use "I am waiting on the Lord" as an excuse to stay where you at. But even when the rivers are still it is moving. Stagnant water has no movement. It is infected with various bugs and diseases. It is dangerous to drink because it contains bacteria and parasites. Let that sink in for a moment...look up stagnant water and come back to this blog. Then, think to yourself "are there any stagnant waters in me? Am I getting a little to comfortable and staying where I am at?"
If you were to smell and see stagnant waters you wouldn't dare to think about drinking it. Water is suppose to be reflective and clear. You should desire to drink water when you see it because it is refreshing. There is nothing refreshing about stagnant waters and if you are stagnant guess what? There is nothing refreshing about you. Sounds a little harsh but it is true. If you are stagnant how is life going to flow through you if you are not flowing?
There is a story in the bible about a Samaritan woman that can be found in John 4:1-14. Jesus was walking through a town in Samaria called Sychar. He was worn out of His journey since He was coming from Galilee. He sat down at the well and a Samaritan woman was drawing water at the well. Jesus asked her to give him a drink and she replied in verse 9-14 "How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? ” she asked Him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.” “Sir," said the woman, “You don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do You get this ‘living water’? You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are You? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.” Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again — ever. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life."
When you are flowing with the Holy Spirit, you are flowing with life! When you are actively listening to the voice of God and coming out of your comfort zone, life will be flowing out of you because you are drawing water from a well that never runs dry! Everyone that will encounter you will be edified, restored and brought back to life because of the well that is stirred up inside of you. If you are reading this and thinking to yourself "I have not flowed with the Holy Spirit and I have become stagnant." Let me encourage you with this thought: the only way for stagnant water to become uncontaminated is through purification. The water must be filtered through a water filter and then the water must be boiled for a minimum of 1 minute. The boiling time must increase if you are in higher altitudes. Ask the Lord to filer you; to filter your thoughts, your mind, your heart, your latitude, YOUR LIFE! King David said it best in Psalms 51:10 "Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me." From there, God is going to put you under a fire so He can purify you. Not only is He going to purify you but the higher you are going to go with God the longer of purification time you are going to endure. We go from glory to glory to glory and wherever God is going to take you remember this, you can not stay stagnant. God is going to use you, move you and flow through you. The longer you stay stagnant and the higher God is going to take you, the longer the boiling time. The process of purification may be long, hard and challenging but in the end, life is going to flow through you and the people that God is going to place in your life and path is going to wonder where they can find that well--and then, you can point them to Jesus, the giver of life who has streams of living water.
Be still and know the HE is God. Follow the voice of the shepherd. When He calls you out of the waters, don't stay where you are; be still but move.