Drinking in the JOY during and after a Journey

Isaiah 12:3-5

New International Version (NIV)

³ With joy you will draw water
   from the wells of salvation.
 ⁴ In that day you will say:
   “Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
   make known among the nations what he has done,
   and proclaim that his name is exalted.
⁵ Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
   let this be known to all the world


May I ask an obvious question? Who wants hard times? No one! Sometimes hard times are a result of others disobedience (called sin) spilling over onto our lives. Many times, hard times are a result of either our own disobedience or a push from the Lord to get us out our comfort zone. 


Do you ever wish that push was more of a nudge? As in a little scoot with a smile and off you would go? I think God knows a nudge would get us exactly three steps out of our comfort zone before we would turn around and run back to it! 


Let me be frank. What is glorious about pain? Where does hope fit in when a father of three looks at me and says he can't find work? What good is there for the mom who wants to stay home but must go back to work because of the finances? 


Sometimes when I pray for myself or others I can't help but realize God is waiting for me to ask as much as I am waiting for him to answer. This past Sunday Pastor Bil preached a great message. He said. "Many times God gives us our answer in bite size portions because, as Bil said, 'we can't handle the truth' (in his best Jack Nicholson Voice)" He meant that illusive big picture... that "best" for our lives could not be given to us in the state we are in now. It is the fire (aka hard times) that refines us. It is the one more time that takes us to that next level. I'm sure knowing that must make you feel better about the hard time you are in now. No? Me either. My life still needs answers, and my prayers for others are still waiting for those best answers. My human flesh is at war with the knowledge that I am a child of the Most High and that God loves me and has a plan.


What I do know is this... I have had hard times, God has never let me down, and His timing and BIG PICTURE MOMENTS are perfect and could have only come from those refining moments. 


We are in a drought. Wells are very important! A family member's home is on a well, and they ran out of well water this past week! Water is slowly trickling back to the well. Don't miss the above verse that says "with Joy you will draw from the wells of salvation." When my family member had no water, it was a harsh reality of the hard drought we are in. Later, when they turned the faucet and water came back, they rejoiced! The Israelite nation new this all to well. The above verse starts out telling us they drew from the wells of salvation. Their disobedience created hard times and as a result they walked through a long journey and realized the "YES", the water when they saw it.


I know God will answer. You will see your "Yes" and draw joy from your well and rejoice. Perhaps you are doing that now. Perhaps you need to start asking God for answers. God is there, and when it is hard to rejoice draw from The well spring of God's Word. Read the Bible and go to church. Satan has a hard time drying up your life when you are watering it with God's promises.

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." (NIV)