Volume I

Streams of Living Water

Vol. I
January 2012

It has been nearly two weeks since I sent the letter indicating my desire to spur you along in the Word and prayer.  I must say that after sending the letter, I have had several times with the Lord and felt that none of them were adequate enough to pass along to you.  I have been caught in the fear that what God has been impressing upon my heart and mind would be insignificant and elementary to each of you.  So, today I leave behind fear and walk into faith, choosing to remember that these teachings are most certainly from God.  How prideful of me, right, to think that any of these thoughts were mine in the first place?

1/30/2012

So, here is the unfiltered journey God took me on this morning…

The bed was warm and His voice was beckoning me to arise,

The sky was still dark, and His nudging persisted.

My body moaned of fatigue and a lingering sickness.

Was it really Him calling me to get up and meet with Him?

Wouldn’t He want me to sleep longer after the tiring efforts of last week?

But His voice was clear, His love was faithful, and He inclined me to obey.

Then He led me, like a sheep to her Shepherd, to Psalm 32 for nourishment.

It was like drinking water after a two-week journey through the desert.

There were three parts to His teaching this morning.

1) My need for confession

The Psalm begins with “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered,” and continues with, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”  

The Holy Spirit began to show me so many of my sins over the past two weeks, and I realized the debilitating effect of not confessing them to my good and great God.  The list was long, the confession daunting, but the freedom and love unfaltering. 

2) Making sense of my circumstances

This Psalm goes on to say, “ Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you many be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.” 

WHAT?  My prayers will not reach God?  What is this talking about? 

To the commentaries I fled…

Ah, no, the “rush of great waters” will not reach the one who is godly and offers prayers.  Much better understanding of the verse!  The “rush of great waters” is from an ancient Near Eastern creation myth that speaks of a mass of chaotic waters that had to be subdued by the creator-god before he could fashion order of the world and rule as the divine king over the earth. 

Over the past few weeks, I have had three circumstances that feel like a “mass of chaotic waters”.  But Jesus said to me this morning, “Tanya, do not run from the rush of great waters – confess your sins to your Father, let Him subdue the waters and fashion order from the chaos.  He will then rule over them.”

3) Hearing His promises

Ah, the remainder of the Psalm was like sweet medicine to my weary soul.  The promises and comfort were limitless.  Here are a few that I hope to meditate upon as the week progresses.

D God is my hiding place

D He preserves me from trouble

D He surrounds me with sounds of deliverance

D He will instruct me and teach me in the way I should go

D He will counsel me with His eye upon me

D Steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord

And the result, after 1)confession, 2)making sense of my circumstances, and 3)hearing His promises is this....(the last verse of the Psalm)

“Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shot for joy, all you upright in heart!”

The alarm sounded,

Life was waiting

Time to awake the children, make breakfast, make a lunch, and manage a new day.

My time of cleansing and refreshment from the Lord was over for now,

And I would long to meet with Him again soon…