Healing Waters

I saw this photo I took years ago on my timeline, and here comes today's blog. I remember those waters. My daughter and I were in a kayak in Broken Bow Lake, OK. I was looking back from whence we came. We maneuvered ourselves around that obstruction, away from those rushing waters.

Rushing waters, still waters, healing waters. Whatever waters we are in today, I pray they are life-giving waters. NOT -- lifeless, murky, drain waters.

I am using "waters" here to represent the moods of people in our lives. They are spunky with a smile that stretches across their face, regardless of challenges in their lives.

Then there are those negative-bent folks who seem to bring clouds with them and they drain us of our joy! They have difficulty finding the good in anything. We love them, but if we hang out with them for very long, we'll start "catching" their mood and our joy starts to drain.

No doubt, they may have some negative stuff happen that impacted their heart and soul. We all have a past that tries to bind us, or maybe a present that insists on weighing us down.

No matter what – there is always the Source of Hope Who dwells within us if we are believers in our God of Hope. And, we want that for others, too!

We can’t always change our circumstances or our past, but we can change how we view our life as it moves forward. If we find ourselves facing life with dread, then I’d like to offer you a few of my personal habits that have served me well and kept my fountain overflowing instead of draining life out of me, as well as those in my sphere of influence.

~ Be positive. It can be work-out, but positivity can become second nature and it creates a fountain of life to others.

~ Count your blessings. Start right here to find your happy place. We woke up this morning. We were able to get out of bed on our own. We have a place to live. We have food to eat. We have God Who loves us so much. Keep in mind there is always someone who has a much tougher time than we do!

~ Be hopeful. Hope is a wondrous thing. I’m passionate about this one because “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Proverbs 13.12). We all need to reach down inside for our child-like anticipation for the future. It's possible with God because He provides a hope that makes the heart healthy and filled with joy.

~ Surround yourself with positivity. We become those who we hang around, if we let them. Sit with an incessant complainer and before long it’s natural to gravitate to their side and we are complaining about this and that, too. Hang out with life-givers and our fountain starts to overflow with life!

~ Encourage others. Who wants to be a drain that depletes others of their joy? Not me! I want to be a fountain-of-life encourager who speaks life. Positive words empower and energize others.

Let’s fill up the fountain within us so it has a never-ending spring of Living Water flowing to those around us. God knows they may be going down for the last time in murky waters of unbelief and negativity. God may be sending out a 9-1-1 call for you and me to be His emergency "springs of living water" provider.

John 7:37-38 "Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”