“Rivers of Living Water flow out of the depths of anyone who believes” John 7:38 (The Message)
I recently heard a great message about “confluence”. Confluence is “the flowing together of two or more streams, rivers, or the like.” The illustration in the message I heard was regarding the confluence (the meeting together) of the Amazon and the Rio Negro rivers. The Amazon is the largest river by discharge globally, meaning it has the most capacity of water than any other river in the world. The interesting thing is that where the Amazon meets the Negro river, they literally run together side by side, not mingling, for almost 4 miles, before the waters finally combine.
The Lord often speaks to me in what I call “show & tell”. He will show me something in the natural and tell me the spiritual truths that it reveals. This message made me feel like a very excited kindergartener whose teacher had opened a door of understanding to my soul.
The spiritual application of the message was, in part, the confluence of the River of Life (our purpose in Christ), and the river of our problems in life. I found myself writing furiously as the Lord spoke to me while I listened. John 7:38 is a promise – an “if- then“ – IF you believe, THEN Living Waters WILL flow from you. If the waters are not flowing, abundantly, with great capacity and magnitude, then the issue is unbelief. There is nothing more complicated to it than that; it is a matter of unbelief.
I have struggled understanding this promise for years – not understanding why these “Waters of Life” were sometimes barely trickling in my life. My mind would go to the past, and all the failures that were there. I became a victim of the religious, condemning spirit that had me focus on me and my failures. But, God spoke to me and I realized fully, for the first time, that the failures of the past are not a part of this promise at all. It is, and always will be a simple matter of BELIEF! It is not about me; it is all about me believing Him, what He has done, is doing, and will do!
The most effective scheme of the enemy is to dam up the flow of the River of Life (our purpose) and have us focus on our river of problems. Just like those two rivers, we are left with our problems and God’s purpose flowing side by side, but never mingling. We never allow God’s purpose to flow INTO the problem.
God’s intention is to “work all things for good” (Romans 8:28)
To “take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good.” (Genesis 50:20)
To make us “more than conquers“ (Romans 8: 37)
Can you see why the enemy tries so hard to get us to focus on our issues and not on believing? What would happen if we believed? The enemy knows, and trembles…..
Those Rivers of Living Water, with their exceeding, abundant capacity, which we cannot even begin to grasp, would pull down all that stands against God and His purposes in our lives.
When our problems and God’s Purpose meet, will we build up the dam with unbelief or will we be like David, Daniel, the Apostle Paul, and all those that decided they were more than conquers?! They saw God as bigger and mightier than the “problem”? They were strong in their faith. Where those rivers come together, a river of victory now flows!
Susan Kewin
Christ Fellowship