Let the River Flow

“On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer.”
(Acts 16:13 NIV)

Historically, rivers were places of worship for dislocated Jews. When they could not get to the Temple, they went down to the river to prayer. (Thus the song from Brother, Where Art Thou?)

“By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs of joy: they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” (Psalm 137:1-4 NIV)

Rivers are symbolic of God’s presence. They are places of life and faith and hope for displaced people. Rivers remind us of God: powerful, present, flowing. Exiled people can go to the river and remember who they truly are.

God’s presence turns dry ground into a well-watered place.

“I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.” (Isaiah 41:18 NIV)

It’s not lost on me that the world has redefined the term ‘thirsty’. Today it speaks of sexual appetite. But the truth is, sex will never satisfy us. Neither will wealth or fame or popularity or power. What we truly desire cannot be achieved outside of right relationship with God. We thirst for living waters, friendship with the Almighty that will never dry up. Just as Jesus offered to the thirsty woman with five husbands.

“Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water I give them will never third. Indeed, the water I give will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
(John 4:13-14 NIV)

God offers a drink that will satisfy us forever: He offers Himself. He offers a spring that brings power and purpose and joy to each and every day.

Yesterday the dry gulch under our driveway became a rushing river in a matter of an hour . My husband had been taking advantage of the cool front: attempting to tame the chaos in the garage, when he heard the sound of gushing water and looked up to see the river that was formerly a front yard. Naturally, we put on rainboots and went out to assess.

The river was loud and close. It was delightful. We tromped through it like kids in puddles, made brave in rubber boots. It was also a little frightening, would it wash away our drive? Could it swell all the way to the house?

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The river of God is similarly thrilling: a little terrifying and totally enthralling. He places His power in us and we can’t help but let it flow through us. It changes the landscape of our flesh and pours out toward others; offering refreshment and hard evidence of God’s very alive nature.

“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 within them.” By this He meant the Spirit whom those who believe in Him were later to receive. Up until that time, the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39 NIV)

We talk about the dispensation of law and the dispensation of grace, but have we grabbed hold of the perhaps the greatest dispensation? The dispensation of God’s Spirit. The Prince of Heaven came to earth, lived and died so He could send His Spirit back to us: so He could supernaturally empower all believers continually. It is only by His Spirit that we are rightly equipped to live out the heart of the law, to extend grace to others. What a privilege! What a responsibility! We have rivers of living water flowing through us full of Kingdom purpose and power – only we alone are left to man the dam.

“Lift up your heads, you gates: be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in.”
(Psalm 24:7 NIV)

We want God to do it. We ask Him for revival but we limit our involvement to our own comfort level and revival never comes when Christians are holding back. We are the governor on how much God we get.

What are we waiting for friends? Open the flood gates: unleash the flow of the Spirit in your life. Now is the time to let God flow through you with full force. Let Him pour through your life and rearrange the landscape of the culture around you, making His power and glory known.

Lord, forgive us for our fear of the river. Our flesh is afraid of what needs to die. Today we see Your power and we crave living waters would flow through us. Have Your way. Tear up the terrain of our flesh, let revival begin in us. Amen.