Whoever Is Thirsty

            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.”  By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39)

          The night before last, I shared a video in which the center verse of this passage was quoted. At the time, I had an epiphany. I would use this verse for today’s blog post. I knew at the time that I should have written it immediately, but I was busy working on something else, so here I am, staring at the computer screen and wondering what to write. No other verse comes to mind to write about either.

          So, let’s pull it apart. Jesus says that anyone who is thirsty is to be allowed to go to Him to drink, and that person is to go to Him to drink. This means that we’re not to put anything in the way of the thirsty person. They don’t have to clean up their lives. There are no hoops to jump through. All they have to do is go and drink. But they must go to Him to drink, and not to anyone else, because He’s the One who can give the Spirit, which is the water we need to drink. No one else will do.

          The next part is where I think my epiphany may have hidden. Jesus promises that rivers of living water will flow from within them. Future tense. Will flow. Not is flowing, not flows. If it’s not flowing now, keep drinking and wait. Of course, that’s not what I want to hear. If it’s not flowing now, there’s something wrong with me, and if God will either tell me what it is so I can fix it or will fix it for me, everything will be back in working order. There’s something wrong with me or there’s something wrong with God.

          Rivers of living water will flow from within them. Not just a little trickle, but multiple rivers. And they will flow from within us. It’s not something over which we have control, it just happens. I sort of understand this. There are times when the words are just there. No muss, no fuss, no effort, and a scene is done. Or a poem. Sometimes I read something I’ve written, and I’m blown away. It’s good! It’s deep! It works! It’s called – of all things – being “in the flow.”

          There are times when I know what I’m supposed to do. God has guided and things I though impossible (more likely improbable rather than impossible) happened. It was like being carried along by the current of a river. That doesn’t mean it was easy or painless, but it happens.

          2020 has and has not been like that. The things I thought I was supposed to do came to an abrupt halt thanks to the virus. The things that have flowed along have been unexpected. I’d never have expected to do so many of the things that just seem to have happened this year, including learning to drink green tea and to eat mint, or weeding.

          We may not be able to sit around waiting until things flow. Sometimes, God doesn’t cause them to do so, but when they do, the world becomes a better place. Drink deeply of Jesus, and wait for those rivers – because there’s likely to be more than one.