“Beloved when you and I have seen or heard anything which God
has revealed to us, let us go and write it or make it known by some other means
… You have not been privileged to see, merely to make glad your eyes and to
charm your soul; you have been permitted to see in order that you may make
others see”. C H Spurgeon. Quote found at Underlined
Bits.
Did I mention how incredible Sunday was?
Sunday afternoon I got home and went to my piano. As I began playing and worshipping things just began to flow. It's just an incredible experience to feel like the words coming out of your mouth are no longer inspired by yourself. I don't know how else to describe it.
As I played I began singing a song that I've never heard. I didn't write it down, so I can't say I've written it either. But it was along a theme that I never would have gone down myself.
The song was a prayer of hope and excitement about what can happen when God troubles the waters.
Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. John 5:2-4
Where God troubles the waters lives change. The blind can see. The deaf hear. The lame walk. The mute speaks. Those crippled and burdened find healing and restoration.
When the waters are troubled - there is hope.
Imagine this, just imagine it. People spend all day every day, waiting for that certain season when an angel goes down into the pool and troubles the waters.
There were waters all over the city, no one sat around those waters. There was no hope in those waters. Here, there was potential, life changing potential.
It's easy for this to remain just a story from the bible so let me ask you something: How many people do you know could use a fountain like that? Even just the thought of a fountain like that. To have hope, the idea that in a split second your world could change. To have a place you were willing to sit at, day and night, just waiting. When a breeze comes up your muscles tighten as you watch the water ripple just a little. Hope. Expectant hope. Life changing hope. Do you have that? Do you really have that? Do you really?
I found myself praying first for my church. I would desire that the waters at my church be troubled. That the lost and broken, hurting and fearful, angry and bitter, would find the waters troubled at my church. Then I realized that's just second best.
I want my life to hold waters of hope, that people would know when they're around me that the waters might be stirred and lives will change when that happens. That all those broken, hurting people would find themselves flocking to me in an ever present hope that they would be nearby when the angel steps into the waters of my life and troubles them.
I want my waters troubled. I want your waters troubled. When He troubles your waters people lying hopeless and helpless will do whatever it takes to get in the water. When He troubles the waters, family/friends will do whatever it takes to get their loved ones in the water. When He troubles the waters people will tell other people about the waters. When He troubles the waters, no one will want to leave the waters. When HE troubles the waters.
Trouble my waters Father, trouble the waters of those around me. Let us be a pool of hope to a lost and dying world.
As a small side note (there's a lot to be gained from this story)
- It's not really about trouble. I add that just in case you think I'm actually praying for trouble. It's about being stirred, moved, shaken, activated.
- It seems like a peaceful, calm pool would be the one that brings healing. But it wasn't.
- It seems like a healing, angelically visited pool would be close to a synagogue. But it wasn't. It was next door to the sheep market.
I don't know how glamorously you view your life, but ehem.. I know me and I sure am glad God is willing to work with sheep markets.
5 comments:
Jeanette,
You have truly found your voice.
Troubled water is a term I too almost welcome. Iknow that struggle is always followed by a victory.
VICTORY IS ALWAYS WELCOME
slw - I'm just so excited to write now. I can't remember how long you've been reading my blog but since the beginning of the year I've been blogging about wanting more from God. He's provided exceedingly and abundantly beyond what I ever imagined (especially since I wasn't sure what it would look like). I'm so excited. I want more!
Mikey - It's one of the few times I would ever use the word angst. The calm waters look nice, placid, safe. But OH! to be stirred. To have my waters troubled. It's changed my life. Stir me more Lord!
hey there, i am keeping up with your posts...and intend to check out the "underlined bits".
Hey Nancy, I'm glad you're staying up with me. Your blog/writing has an innocence to it that I wish was more evident in my own writing. It compels me to read what you're writing with an open heart. Having people like you around gives me hope that maybe a bit more of that innocence is coming through my writing than I imagine.
And you comment! :)
People just don't know how encouraging that is. Like I told someone else recently, it's like having an amen section. As much as these comments encourage and excite me, I can only imagine what might happen if I became a bold amen section for my pastor.
Underlined Bits is actually a lot more like the name than I originally imagined. As the contributors read a book or blogs or anything really, they simply give you the stand out parts. The things they would underline. The pages I've gone through so far have been really interesting. I hope you enjoy it!
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