water, pain and & the process of discovering purpose
This is a throwback to two of my favorite road trips: An 8 hour motorbiking adventure in Cambodia — we biked over 100 miles, through villages & rice paddy fields in 2016.
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The other was an extended weekend road trip across Morocco, towards the Algerian border in 2017. Both taught me valuable lessons about life that I wish I understood then, but I’m thankful that I get it now.
“They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed out.”
— Isaiah 48:21
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As I traveled through Cambodia & Morocco, I noticed how important a single commodity was in the lives of all that I came across: water.
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Throughout the Bible, water flows through the pages of scripture. It’s full of passages that link water to Gods creating, blessing and saving work. While the Israelites were wandering through the desert, they forgot their identity. They forgot that they were God’s chosen people.
For so long, travel was my identity. Being able to explore the world so freely. Teaching others how to do the same. It’s the badge I wore on my sleeve.
This past week, some friends hosted a Bible Study via our church and we talked about desert seasons. God often brings us into desert seasons not to harm us, but to prepare us. He will reposition or remove the things that we turn to to fill ourselves up. And He’ll use that season, while painful, to break, assemble & strengthen us. It’s His divine preparation.
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There are lessons that we can only learn when we’re walking in a dry place. When your friends have turned their backs on you. When your job lets you go. When that sickness makes it’s way back. When you feel like God isn’t listening.
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Moses tells the people that not only is God about to release the fullness of the promise into their lives, but He has prepared their hearts to live large in the abundance of His provision. Imagine getting the very thing we wanted before the preparation — would we not corrupt it?
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We are always walking towards a desert season, currently wandering in one, or walking out of the desert. As long as we follow God’s leading, we will never thirst. The longer we try to do things our way, the longer we will thirst after things that can’t fully quench us.
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In Isaiah 48:21 it says that water flowed from the rock. Water flowed from a rock. Now, I don’t know about you but I didn’t grow up knowing there were reservoirs of water hidden inside of rocks. Since we know that water represents life and we can’t survive without it. This should come as no surprise:
God keeps new life hidden in those hard places.
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That boyfriend who dumped you. Those friends that left you. The job that let you go. All of the things that you think are going wrong — God will split it so that His Truth can flow freely. That water will wash you, invigorate & carry you.
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Life & truth will come from pain. We are prepared by pain. And even in the midst it, God’s Word is there as the living water you need to quench that deeper thirst.
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And finally, as we approached the final stretch of our Cambodian motorcycle adventure, it began to rain. And not just any rain, but a torrential downpour. It was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever witnessed. For me, it symbolized a purification. And it was a lesson that I would later learn: purpose will come from the moments when the rock splits.
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I’m thankful for that lesson today. Thankful for the water. Thankful for the rock. Thankful for the Word. Thankful for the Truth.
Happy Resurrection Sunday!
