How High’s the Water Mama?

How High’s the Water Mama? By Julie McAllen

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Gen 1:2)

The Bible opens with the Spirit of God drawing up His creation from water and we’re encouraged not to let this escape our notice.

“it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,” (2 Pe 3:5)

Part of that new creation was a Divine separating work of the waters. Water below, water above.

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. (Gen 1: 6-7)

Though the earth was created from water, making dry land appear, it was later destroyed when the floodgates of the heavens were opened and deluged the dry land.

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. (Gen 7:11)

It would seem with a story like that, no one would anticipate a river released from heaven as something to be sought with gladness, yet the Psalmist welcomed this heavenly flow.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High. (Ps 46: 4)

And believers today are blessed by the story’s conclusion of a pure river of life flowing from the throne in heaven.

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, ² in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Rev 22:1-2)

Water has been portrayed as both destroyer and deliverer. The flood of Noah’s day caused the unrepentant to perish yet its waters were also spoken of as being the agent through which Noah and his family were delivered.

… the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. (1 Pe 3: 20)

The apostle Peter goes on to compare the waters of Noah’s day to Christian baptism.

Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (1 Pe 3:21)

Baptism, like Noah’s flood, is a symbol of something being destroyed and also delivered.

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4)

Cleansing us through the washing of water with the word, He destroys the old nature as we die with Christ and rise up as a new creation. (Ephesians 5:25-27)

And He continues to be generous in renewing the face of the earth by the flood of His Holy Spirit.

You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the ground. (Ps 104:30)

Water played an important role in the writing of a famous hymn by Horatio G. Spafford. In 1871, the Chicago fire financially destroyed this wealthy businessman and a torrent of water would’ve been most welcome. But water only brought more tragedy a short time later when his four daughters perished in the Atlantic ocean. His wife Anna, however, survived. The same location that served as the watery grave for the Spafford children became the sacred spot where the Holy Spirit inspired the healing words of “It is well with my soul.”

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Spafford experienced the calm after the storm. His words portray water as both a peaceful river and a sorrowful sea. The flood of Noah’s day and our own salvation stories include the raging sea and peace like a river. In the midst of the storm, no one can see the rainbow, but only God truly knows what lies beneath the surface.

“Then the channels of the sea appeared,
The foundations of the world were laid bare
By the rebuke of the Lord,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
¹⁷ “He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
¹⁸ “He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
¹⁹ “They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
²⁰ “He also brought me forth into a broad place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me. (2 Samuel 22:16-20)

I have my own water story to tell. During a time when I was tossed about by the seas of doubt, I took a trip to the Minnesota Zoo. It was amazing to see the colorful ocean fish contained in their aquariums. Colors that I previously thought man invented, because I had never seen them in the nature out my backdoor, were there on display. I wrongly assumed the cartoony fish on my shower curtain were the invention of an artist, but they had been under the surface of the ocean long before any man conceived of them in his heart. Not until the invention of Scuba gear, cameras, and the means to bring these beautiful creatures into museums and zoos, could any one appreciate them and give glory to God. Yet, they existed for thousands of years with no man to notice. So why did God make them? And that is when He shifted my self-defeating attitude that had me at the center as if the world revolved around what delighted my senses. These creatures, as all of creation, were made for God’s pleasure, not mans!! All those years, the colors were for His senses alone and yet, He allowed man to discover them at His determined time in history. It made me wonder what else is out there hidden from my sight?

And let the fish of the sea declare to you. (Job 12:8)

Below the surface of our flesh is a spiritual seed waiting to be watered. The Spirit of God is moving over the surface of the waters. In the beginning, God created. And we were created in God’s image. God is Spirit and so are we. But God also put on flesh. And so have we. Jesus said we must be born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh, but what is born of Spirit is Spirit (John 3:5-7). The seed of our spiritual lives is there within us throughout the duration of our earthly course, but seeds need water to blossom and grow to fruition. And yet, some of us never say “I am thirsty.”

⁷ There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. ⁹ Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” ¹¹ She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? ¹² You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” ¹³ Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:7-14)

When this woman was presented with the truth that there were two sources of water; one which would cause her to thirst again and another that would become a well-spring to eternal life, she answered, “Sir, give me this water.”

And everyday we are confronted with two sources of water as well. A river of life and a river leading to death. Both offer a strong current that makes it easy to keep flowing along in it. Which will we choose?

When my husband and I were dating, we chose a wrong course. We took our inner tubes down the Eau Claire river and though we both knew there were falls ahead, in our excitement, we somehow dismissed that fact. We made a poor decision and both went over the falls. At that point, the river had us. Once I was under the falls, the water was pounding on top of me while at the same time propelling me forward in the current. I honestly didn’t know which way was up and therefore had no idea where to direct my strokes toward survival. I was completely at the mercy of the river and it was frightening. Inside I was screaming but was helpless to do anything for myself. At one point I had come up long enough to gasp for air and saw some concerned people standing on the rock ledge reaching out their hands to help but the current took me right past their grasp.

The Lord called that memory back to mind one day and related it to prayer. There are times we make one wrong choice and end up in a current. It happens to all of us. By that time it’s too late, the river’s got us and though we are helpless, He has given us a Helper. The Spirit knows what to pray even if we don’t know who’s caught in a current. The Spirit connects the body. God is faithful and searches for someone  who is grounded with their feet on the Rock and the Spirit begins to pray through them because we are not well enough to do it ourselves. The Spirit intercedes because we all get caught in currents and need one another.

A torrent is released when we side with our sin nature where nothing good resides. The word reminds us to humble ourselves, turn the other cheek, flee from temptation, and yet, we choose to step into the river of our flesh and get caught up in its current. We could also choose in that moment to walk in the Spirit by obeying the truth of God’s word. Either way, a current makes it easy to keep going along. One current makes it easier to say the wrong thing, take the next drink, give into sin. But one step into the river of life also makes it easier to lift your hands in praise, bless your enemy, and resist temptation. When the flaming arrow hits you, which river will you jump in? Why not dip into one leading to life?

How high’s the water mama?

Keep yourself in God’s love, Julie