Abundance

Out here in Southern California our stream beds are usually empty, dry, hard, cracked surfaces filled with only the memory of cool swift-running delicious water.  This Eastern Pennsylvania stream has not stopped running since settlers first discovered it.  Flowing down from a spring-fed source the water is crystal clear, swiftly tumbling over rocks, its motion a constant symphony of wondrous delight.  The paths on either side are worn smooth by people, bicycles, and animals.  Note the contrast between this beautiful stream and the empty beds we see every day.

I do not always walk beside swiftly flowing delightful streams abundant with water.  Life often takes me to places where the streams are dry and empty.  When I am there I remember the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 104:10:  "You make springs pour water into the ravines, so streams gush down from the mountains."  Every empty stream bed is an opportunity for God to fill it!

Just as in Autumn the leaves turn and fall, and the trees stand naked against the sky, the promise of spring is there!  So is God's promise of abundance.  Instead of seeing the abundance of colors in the leaves of Fall I can focus on the fact that the leaves are dying and falling off the trees.  If I do that I'll miss all that beauty and all that abundance.

To go a little deeper, the difference in my attitude is the difference between instinct and reason.  God has given me the ability to reason, and I know there is a future, I don't have to make all my decisions based on what is going on now and what has happened in the past, acting on instinct like an animal.  My turtles can't reason that there will be food for them tomorrow.  I feed them every day, but they will kill more fish than they can eat simply because they act on instinct, not reason.  They can't see the promise of tomorrow.  I can.  Jesus said that He came to give me life, and to give it more abundantly!  So when the stream bed is empty I know the blessing of water is coming.

Right now where I work the stream beds are empty, dry, cracked, and the promise of water seems far away.  Yet I know that the Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.  I know He will listen to the prayers of the destitute.  He will not reject their plea.  I know.  Lord, increase my faith.