All forms of life bloom beside a brook, fountain or spring!
In the book of Deuteronomy of the Old Testament of the Bible, there is a verse in chapter eight: 'For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs flowing forth in valleys and hills' (v7).
Usually a brook or fountain or spring does not become dry in ordinary or extremes of climate! It is a perennial source of nourishment for life.
The water flows through mountains and valleys.
I feel moved by the reference to the three sources of water-brook, fountain and spring.
A brook is a small stream, a fountain is reservoir of water and a spring is a source of ground water. Each of it has its symbolic meanings.
The brook Cherith from which Elijah drank got dried up as there was no rain. (I Kings 17:7). There can be times when the provisions offered to us can suddenly stop. But Elijah was guided to go to a widow in Zarephath (v9) for his daily provision. The sources of help we depend upon can be withdrawn or stop! It will then be yet another transition time to move on to experience another surprise of provision and guidance in life form God who watches over us.
A fountain representing a reservoir of water reminds me of the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-10), where a paralysed man who was sick for thirty years remained for his turn to get into water to receive healing. But before he could get in when an angel stirred the water, someone else took his turn. It was to this disappointed man, resigned to his fate, Jesus said: 'Arise, take up your pallet and walk'! The longing of this man was to receive healing from the pool. But God had ordained another provision for his healing. God surprises us by His visitation in our lives when we feel denied of our longing, but satisfies our needs in another unusual way! God visits us to bring surprises!
A spring is ground water whose source does not dry up. In Jeremiah 2:13 and 17;13, the prophet describes God as 'the spring of living water' It is this Jesus of Nazareth referred to as recorded in John 4:14, when He said: 'But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him well of water springing up to eternal life'. God is not just a provider of our needs but a God who satisfies us by the fullness of His presence within us.
All of us experience heights and lows in our journey of life. The assurance of God is that the source of our wellness will accompany us while we journey through experiences of wilderness and wanderings as wells as seasons of abundance and comfort.
I remember an occasion in my life when I was journeying through a desert experience. After having spent 9 years in pursuing to promote child development in developmentally challenged children, I experienced exhaustion and felt being in a desert. I had limited neurological resources to attend to children when they had multiple complex needs. I needed more training in developmental neurology to offer evidence based support for children. There was no child neurology training prospects in India at that time. I felt being at a cross road. I even entertained the thought of quitting the pursuit of child development. I took up a part time job in two mission hospitals in general Paediatrics, when a sense of inadequacy overtook me in understanding many children neurologically, who were referred for Neuro-developmental support!
That is when, I was invited to join the Institute of Neurology at the Madras Medical College, by its director, when I happened to meet him in a meeting. His cordial invitation, having heard my desire for training in developmental neurology, surprised me as I was meeting him for the first time. He made immense provisions to enable and equip me. Those four years of training and post doctoral research enlarged my understanding and grounded me better. The subsequent twenty five years in child development was coloured with new perspectives and frontiers, which provided depth and new content to support children and families. I have a sense of awe and wonder when I think of the way this opportunity came along my path in an unexpected manner.
It is when we pause to recollect we would remember experiences of having been beside a brook, fountain or a spring in different times in our lives.
In the same Biblical text in verse 15, there is a confession about the goodness of God: 'He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water. He brought water for you out of the rock of flint'.
It is in such a God we are called to trust, 'in whom we live, move and have our being' !
M.C.Mathew(text and photo )
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