"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers
of living water will flow from within them.”
- John 7:38
I LOVE this promise. It’s one of the verses that is written into the DNA of C A N Y O N. It reminds me that no matter what we are walking through, we have access to underground reservoirs of hope and love and light and mercy and peace. In some ways, the wider our hearts are split open, the wider the river that will come rushing through every broken place. Come all you who are thirsty, there is plenty to drink. Come all you who are weary and heavy laden, He is strong enough to bear your burden. Come all you who are hungry to the banquet that He sets for us. I’m reminding my heart today, even in the wake of tragedies like losing Daunte Wright & Ma’Khia Bryant, in the wake of storms that destroy, in the wake of justice that doesn’t get served, in the wake of lives that are lost, in the wake of the depression that shadows, or the addiction that we just can’t seem to shake, in the wake of the loneliness and isolation so many of us feel right now, God reminds us that we are held even in those heart breaking places. We can trust that we’re being carried by the current of living water, the current of love that is ever present, even within us, when we simply believe.
So many days, I doubt. So many days, I try to muster up my own strength or take on the responsibility of trying to change peoples’ minds and hearts. There are days that feel so hard, I don’t believe. Many days after this last year feel like we’re all wandering around in the desert, but this simple verse reminds me that even when we are in those dry, dusty, ash places by the grave, there is an invitation to rest in the current of living water. I’ve experienced the refreshment and relief that resting into this current brings, and it’s enough to keep me coming back to the river, even after heart-breaking days and circumstances. I don’t know what else to do, so I suppose today is a prayer for anyone who is feeling weary or who finds it hard to believe in a God who exists in the midst of so much brokenness here on earth. This verse gives us all an invitation to believe even when our eyes can’t see that we are held, even here, and that this current of living water will carry us home to a place where we know that we belong to Him and to each other.
