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Hear the voice of someone who loves you

Someone dear to me was caught in a storm of conflicts that had been going on for weeks. I was a thousand miles away, but I called to see how she was doing. I could hear her voice break as she said, “It’s so good to hear the voice of someone who loves me.”

This post is for those who need to hear the voice of someone who loves them.

When we are feeling battered, overwhelmed, besieged, brokenhearted, trampled … often we need only two things: to hear how much God loves us and to know how He cares for those He loves.

And the one place you will hear that is in the Scriptures. I know that we sometimes seek comfort in other people, in music, in distracting activity, in … all sorts of things. But the one lifeline that can reach to the depth of our pain or worry or despair or exhaustion is the Word of God, the very words of the One who made you, speaking to you through the Scriptures.

If you feel like your boat has capsized and you’re drowning today, you need to know that

…unfailing love surrounds those who trust the LORD.   (Psalm 32:10)

God tells us over and over again that He loves us. He comes to our rescue. He cares about the brokenhearted. He provides protection and refuge. And it’s all there, in the Word that gives us hope.

You are my refuge and my shield;
   your word is my source of hope.
(Psalm 119:114)

Once you start looking, you’ll find God’s promises and assurances and comfort everywhere in Scripture. I was going to use some of my favorites, but then I had far too long a list. So, I’ll give the references at the end of this post. Read the Scriptures yourself, and hear the voice of one who loves you.

The verses from Psalms say we are always under God’s watchful eye. He will be our refuge, our rescue. Isaiah’s passages talk about God never leaving us, holding our hand, answering our cries for help, making us strong. You are mine, He says, and I will be with you.

The LORD says, “I will rescue those who
        love me,
    I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer.
    I will be with them in trouble.
    I will rescue and honor them.”
(Psalm 91:14-15)

Our Father has promised that when you walk through the fire you will not be burned or when the floods threaten to wash you away, He will be with you, holding you fast (Is. 43:1-2), because you belong to Him!

And during those times, it is so good to hear the voice of Someone who loves you.

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This is just a short list of some of my favorites. But it’s a place to start when you don’t know where to go. And don’t stop with Psalms and Isaiah! The Spirit will have passages just for you in your time of trouble.

Psalm 9:10; Psalm 13:5; Psalm 16:1, 8; All of Psalm 18; All of Psalm 25; Psalm 27:4-5; Psalm 31:2,4; Psalm 33:18-22; Psalm 34:17-18; Psalm 44:5; Psalm 62; Psalm 73:23-26; Psalm 77:14; Psalm 84:5-7; all of Psalm 91; Psalm 103:11-14, 17; Psalm 119:76; Psalm 143:3-4,6; Isaiah 40:29-31; Isaiah 41:10, 12-14, 17-18; Isaiah 43:1,2; Isaiah 43:18-19; Isaiah 53:5; Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 58:9,11; Isaiah 61:1-3; Lamentations 3:19-25　

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Lorna Doone in Old Sow (Little Boat in Perilous Whirlpool)

Last year on the Fourth of July, after the sun had set but while evening light still lingered, I stepped from the docks of Lubec onto a little boat that headed out into Johnson’s Bay. I was delighted and eager; our plan was to watch the fireworks displays from three towns and two countries while bobbing on the waters of the bay between Canada and the US.

What I did not know was that we were also going to sail through Old Sow. With still an hour or so of daylight, our captain took us on a little tour while we waited for the fireworks show. The salmon pens, a little whale-watching, a few dolphins playing, the Canadian Island of Campobello. Then through Old Sow, the largest whirlpool in the northern hemisphere, second largest in the world.

Deep water scares me. I’ve lived all my life in the Midwest, far from any deep water. I can swim…but only in a calm swimming pool. While the ocean fascinates and awes me, I’m wary and respectful of its power.

 Now here we were, in the little six-passenger Lorna Doone, puttering through Old Sow. Strong currents flowing from many directions around the islands, from Passamaquoddy Bay to the Atlantic and back again, create a tidal churning, a watery vortex that at times can capsize and swallow ships. To safely pass through the roiling waters, a captain has to correctly judge the tides and the winds. Our captain took us through. I was… ummm…nervous. And very glad to come through on the other side.

But the captain of our boat has spent his life on these waters. Even though the Lorna Doone was the smallest craft out that night, her captain knew the bay, he knew the tides, he knew his boat. His wife told me, “Don’t worry. He knows what he’s doing. He won’t take us through if he’s not absolutely certain we will make it.”

(I thought to myself, Yup, that’s probably what most of the people who disappeared here, along with their boats, also thought …)

Ever since, when I think about sailing through Old Sow, I think about the confidence that woman had in her captain. She sat back and relaxed, did not watch the waves anxiously, as I did; she had no concern that we were headed toward waters where we might disappear forever.

I want to have that faith! I have spent too much of my time worrying about rough waters ahead. I want to have a trust that knows, even when the whirlpool’s waters grab at my little boat, that my captain is in total control, he knows the waters, he knows exactly where I am, and his power holds me.

How often have we cried, “Lord, do you see what’s happening? Do you care? Help! I am not going to make it…”

The story, first told about Jesus’ disciples on the Sea of Galilee, repeats itself in every generation of disciples, repeats itself in every disciple’s life, repeats in my life. Again and again, I find myself in a storm that threatens to overwhelm my boat; again and again, I cry, I’m drowning, Lord!

And I hear the same answer, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

The storms are real. Our peril is real. The enemy would love to grab my boat in the swirling deep and swallow it, never to surface again. Without faith in my captain, I would have plenty of reasons to be terrified of the waters and storms ahead.

The old hymn, “Peace Be Still,” has been humming in my head, especially these two lines:

        “No water can swallow the ship where lies
         the Master of ocean and earth and skies;”

The story in Scriptures tells us that at Jesus’ words, “Be still!” there was suddenly a great calm. It’s referring to the wind and the waves, but I want this to be descriptive of me, too!

I want my little faith to grow to big faith. I am learning. He brings me through the Old Sows in my life, he calms me in the storms, I am in His hands. I want to look ahead and relax, trusting, having faith in Him no matter what waters I see boiling ahead.

　

Scripture: Mark 4:40

NEXT: Lifelines to grab when you’re drowning.

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The Ultimate Hope for the Thirsty

And what is the end of our story? It is that we will no longer be thirsty. You’ve heard the statement again and again, There will be no tears in heaven. Scriptures also say, There will be no thirst in heaven.

(This is why I wondered: was there thirst in the Garden of Eden? Or did that come only after man broke his relationship with God?)

A number of references in Revelation tell us that our thirst will be satisfied in our Father’s new heaven and new earth. And while this book’s symbolism and metaphors and prophetic language are often difficult to understand, this is clear: those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb will never again know hunger and thirst.

There will be no parched ground, no wanderings in wilderness, no desolation in the deserts that we now experience. We will never again feel our life ebbing away; we will never again wander, homeless and hungry.

Our Lord says,

“…Look, I am making everything new! … I am the Alpha and the Omega — the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.

All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.”

That’s where we’re headed, children of God.

The rivers of eternal life are already flowing within us. Drink deeply and with joy.

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Scripture: Revelation 7:14,16 (NIV); Revelation 21:5-7 (NLT)

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Drinking Deeply and with Joy

Well, I detoured a bit, thinking about cracked cisterns. But I guess that’s what really does happen to us — we are pulled off track when we chase mirages instead of heading straight to the oasis.

“With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation.”
(Isaiah 12:3)

Does that one line itself make you thirsty, make you want more?

I want to drink more deeply, and I want to drink with joy.

When we began this discussion, I mentioned that finding God as the only true source of life-giving water is just the first step, the first part of our story. In the next chapter of this story, we find rivers of living water …  flowing within us!  

Does that sound a bit radical, maybe too extreme or fanatical? Or do you think it edges too close to a human-centric spirituality?

Here is the good, good news. Jesus says that anyone who is thirsty can come to Him, and He will give the Spirit, who will be rivers of living water flowing from your heart. This water, Jesus says, becomes a fresh bubbling spring within you and will give you eternal life.

Wow. I want to live with that fresh, bubbling, eternal water flowing through me.

Did you catch the Scripture’s reference a few days ago about God living among us? (Isaiah 12:6) This is what Jesus gives us: the Spirit of God that lives within each of His children. It is radical, but it is anything but human-centric. 

It is the Spirit of God within that becomes streams of life, flowing through us, reviving, sustaining, renewing. God is not just some powerful deity ‘way off in the heavens somewhere. God lives here, with us. Jesus said, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.”   (my bold)

Wow. Wow. Wow. I have to ask: Can you believe that? If you believe that, then what changes in your life?

Spirit, help our unbelief!

The story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well sounds familiar. Jesus tells her several times, “I can give you living water. You will never be thirsty again.”

But she doesn’t hear Him, doesn’t understand. Instead, she talks about practical, logical problems (How will you draw the water? You don’t have a bucket.); personal issues (if you give me this water, I’ll never have to come back here again, I have no husband); and religious tradition or dogma (where’s the best place to worship?)

Jesus repeats, “I can give you water that quenches all your thirst.”  But she has a hard time getting it. Even when He finally says, straight out, “I am the Messiah that was prophesied,” she’s still wondering, although she is impressed that He knew everything about her life. But it seems that she never understands Jesus’ offer of living, eternal water.

The Spirit of God in our lives is a fresh, bubbling spring of living water. May we hear, understand, and come and drink. Deeply.  And with joy.

　

John 7:37-39; John 14:23 (NLT)

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Your choice: broken cisterns or fountain of life

Sometimes we are parched and thirsty because we have gone, not to the spring of living water, but to the “well of the world.” (Marc Kinna’s phrase. See below for a link to his thoughts on this.)   And the well of the world holds no water for our souls.

And — wouldn’t you know it — as this post was simmering in my brain, I was led to that well of the world and invited to take a sip. Yup. Found myself looking wistfully at something and thinking, “If only I had that, then my life would be …” 

Jeremiah tells us what God thinks about His people chasing earthly accomplishments, people, and ideas to sustain and nourish our souls. God says,

“For my people have done two evil
things:

They have abandoned me —
    the fountain of living water.
And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns
    that can hold no water at all!”

I meet many things in this world that appeal to me. Our affluent times (yes, even after this economic nosedive) make it all too easy to slip into acquisition mode. That hype about having the “American Dream” can trap us. Even simple things can lead into an ambush: I stroll through the mall and hear a very loud message that my wardrobe needs to be updated … the neighbors have that gorgeous landscaping … the internet encourages my dream of a cottage in Maine…

Possessions are not the only things that capture us. Achievement is pursued and praised, to the extent that we sacrifice our families and sometimes our sanity. Myriads of products and people and ideas parade themselves as the “answer” to our problems. Your “fulfillment” lies in the pursuit of happiness or  “finding” yourself. (Think about all those “self-help” books. Huh? When I’m desperate and caught in some tangled web of my own making … then I’m going to be able to help myself? Really?)

OK, I’m ranting. And I’m not saying new clothes or the internet or a promotion at work are unhealthy spiritually. But the question is, Where do you look for water to sustain your soul? Each one of you will have a different list of things that the enemy is trying to use to replace your relationship with God.

And yes, I’m going to say it — Satan can even use church, religious tradition, and doctrine, if we give those things in themselves more energy and devotion than we give to our Creator.   Sometimes, we build those cisterns, thinking they will provide life, instead of going to the fountain of life.

Just a little tidbit I picked up somewhere: We often misinterpret the messages our bodies send to our brains. When we open the refrigerator door or scrounge through the cupboards looking for a snack, we aren’t really hungry; we’re thirsty. Interesting. So I’ve tried being more judicious about this; and when I think I’m hungry, I find that I am, instead, thirsty. When I pay attention to that, I drink more water (good for me) and eat fewer snacks (very, very good for me).

We need not be confused about what our souls really need: Scriptures are very clear. Nothing on this earth will satisfy and sustain like the fountain of living water. God has called our attempts to provide water for ourselves “an evil thing.”  We try all kinds of things to assuage our thirst, but man-made cisterns will never hold the life-giving water we need.

Psalm 68:6 says the rebellious will live in a sun-scorched land. Compare Isaiah 12:3, that says, With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation!

The One who created us knows what gives us life. And He supplies it. Why do we instead try to build cracked cisterns that cannot hold water?

And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
My only hope is in you.
Rescue me from my rebellion.

Amen.

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Scripture: Jeremiah 2:13, Psalm 39:8 (both NLT)
Link to Marc Kinna’s thoughts: http://marckinna.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/burning-tossing-abstaining/