Thoughts On Water

Water is something I don’t often think about living in St. Louis, unless there’s too much of it, because I have easy access to as much water as I want.  When I traveled to Burkina Faso this summer, I learned first hand this is not the case for everyone, and God gave me a new perspective on water. We arrived early in rainy season. The first storm had come through a few days prior, filling ponds, low areas and ditches with water. Leaves were budding and popping out on trees, adding touches of green to the landscape.

Mike (missionary to Burkina Faso and director of the orphanage we visited there) commented on the green leaves on our drive from the airport to the village, and I realized it was the rain the week before that had prompted this new growth. In a flash, I saw that new life was springing forth from the dust, and that the green we were looking at was the result of the rain which had come and soaked the dry and weary land. I saw the parallel to what happens to us when living water is poured out on us. We are but dust (Ps 103:14, Gen 2:7) but when we receive Jesus, and the living water He speaks of, (John 4:14, 7:37-38) that which was dead is suddenly alive.

As it rained one morning Biba (Mike & Amy’s adopted daughter) told us that the Burkinabe love the rain and often go out in it and dance. It was a foreign concept to me, but as we watched Biba’s joyful and exuberant dance in the pouring rain, her appreciation of the life and vitality and refreshing, a new appreciation dawned on me. The rain brought life to the plants, and by extrapolation, to the people. This rain brought refreshing, cooler temperatures, and quieted the dust. Before our eyes was an example of living water bringing life, refreshing, and newness of life to a dry and weary people. Truly this rain was something to be celebrated.

Science tells us the human body is more than 60 percent water, blood is 92 percent water, the brain and muscles are 75 percent water, and bones are about 22 percent water.  A human can survive for a month or more without eating food, but only a week or so without drinking water. Possibly more than we are aware, we need water to survive, and Jesus offered living water…

At home in the US where I have easy access to running water in several rooms

of my house, I didn’t appreciate or pay attention to water. But over and over again while I was in Burkina Faso, where water means a trip to the well and hauling heavy containers, where rain only comes three months each year, it was easier for me to see and appreciate the value of water and to comprehend the things God has told us about humanity, Himself, and water. Thank you to all involved for allowing me this opportunity.