“May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.” Romans 15:13 (AMP)
It was so hot—Sahara Desert, choking-heat, “a hundred degrees in the shade” kind of hot. The glaring sun baked my skin through my shirt. My throat was so parched I could barely swallow anything but gulps of hot dry air. I had volunteered to help a friend hoe miles and miles of weeds from his cotton fields in Arizona. A week, I’d said, and this was just my first day.
There was a water-boy stationed at the west end. As we passed by him, we’d all holler, “Water—Agua!” We’d fill up, then start working our way down a long row. As I reached the east end and looked back, it seemed he was miles away.
Traipsing down those long rows, my thoughts drifted far away from the task at hand. I was hoeing, but trying to forget my deplorable condition—thinking beyond my circumstances, so I could move myself through to the end of another row. The words “bubbling over” came to my mind. Bubbling over…hmmm…what could that mean? Then it was hope bubbling over and bingo! I knew what it meant. My hope is in the Lord! And suddenly the hope of the Lord was bubbling over in my heart.
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:11 (NIV).
“Ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you…. How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!” Luke 11:9, 13 (AMP).
“And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.’” Revelation 21:6.
“I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His Word do I hope.” Psalm 130:5 (NASB).
Oh yes, thank You Jesus! I am humbly requesting not only for physical water, but more importantly, Your Water. Quench my thirst O, Lord.
I found myself reenergized. My steps were steadier—more pronounced and firmer. My fingers were not aching so much around the hoe handle.
My mind took me to another time, when my friend was truly fighting for survival. I remembered him calling me in dire need of a job. He was having problems buying food for his loving wife and two children. He needed financial rescue. I told him we would work something out, but the main thing right then was to remember to put his hope in the Lord.
I told him to claim Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” and Psalm 31:24, “Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” It didn’t take him and his family long to get back on their feet, and in time, he became financially successful. As the Lord would have it, he has helped many others along life’s way. God is so good.
“De-weeding” my thoughts, and turning my focus to how often Jesus had intervened in my life situations, brought one of my favorite Scriptures to mind: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed [focused] on You, because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3.
Only ten more steps to reach the water station. Shirt and gloves soaked, shoulders aching, I cried out, “Water—Agua!” Oh, how many times I have to remember to call out to Jesus and be refreshed from His heavenly water station.
Please remember that the Lord is in charge. Call on Him for help. Plant His promises in your heart, and He will clear away your confusion. “God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” 1 Corinthians 14:33. His Word and His Spirit will bring up a well of living water in your soul.
2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” No matter how many promises God makes, they find a “yes” answer in Christ Jesus! As you call on Him, the God of hope will fill you with His peace and cause you to bubble over with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). May He bless you today, and quench your thirst in this dry and parched land.
