Oswald chambers says that a life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles wings, but is a life of day-in and day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (Isaiah 40:31). If I have learned one thing over the past year, it would be that. The Christian faith is exhilarating and adventurous. It is a life worth living. But if you can relate with what Oswald is saying, you know that the Christian faith leads us into the wilderness at different times in our lives. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness before being launched into the greatest 3 years of ministry the world has ever seen.
The wilderness is a dry place. The wilderness is a season that I believe we will all walk through. But if faith is really built in the day to day consistency, then why should the wilderness push us backwards in our walk with Christ? Shouldn't the wilderness launch us into the greatest ministry of all time? When I say great, I don't mean easy and successful. I mean great as in living each day with the boundless joy of knowing our ministry is in the hands of a God who already has the victory. We are already successful when we are consistent in pursuing Jesus.
Cheryl Fletcher said that miracles happen in the midst of the mundane. The wilderness is a mundane place to be in. Not much happens, there is not much to see, and to be honest, it feels like God is far from you. It's hard to want to show up for work when you're working in the wilderness.
So how do we go about not only surviving, but thriving in the wilderness? How do we prepare to be launched into the ministry in which Jesus said we would do greater things than he? God reveals the answer to Ezekiel many years before Jesus and we too have the privilege of knowing the only answer that will ever be right.
Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple, south of the altar. He then took me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the gate complex on the east. The water was gushing from under the south front of the Temple. He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through. He said, "Son of man, have you had a good look?" Then he took me back to the riverbank. While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river. He told me, "This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En-gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean. "The swamps and marshes won't become fresh. They'll stay salty. "But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won't wither, the fruit won't fail. Every month they'll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." (Ezekiel 47:1-12 MSG)
A river begins at a source and ends at a mouth, following a path called a course. Rivers can flow down mountains, through valleys (depressions) or along plains, and can create canyons or gorges in some cases.
The river of life gushes out of the Source, which is our mighty creator God. He takes us out deeper and deeper into the river until we cannot stand. At ankle-deep we begin to experience the depth of the knowledge and holiness of our God. We will never reach the depth of this understanding on earth. But still he takes us deeper. At knee-deep we sink into more understanding of the grace and love of the father. We will never know the pain of this cost while on the earth. But still he takes us deeper. At waist-deep we begin to learn more of who God is. His character, his heart, and his deep adoration for us. We will never know the depths of his affections for us on earth. But still he takes us deeper. The river is so deep that not a single person can stand without being emerged high above their head with water. We experience a fullness of God. We experience him as a lover. We experience him as a father, a healer, a provider.
God tells Ezekiel that the river is a river of freshwater that empties into the salty sea which then becomes fresh. The river is a source of life. Where the river flows, life abounds. I believe that God reveals His river of life to Ezekiel for the specific purpose of revealing Himself as the only source of life which would express itself through the sacrifice of His only son Jesus on a cross to pay the debt so that we could experience the depth of His river of life. It is only from the Source that we can receive life. And that river of life propels us down a different course into a mouth of salty water that must be made fresh through the sacrifice that can only come from the Source. The sea cannot be made fresh except through the Source from which fresh water comes. And on the banks of that river grow fruit that will never fail. Fruit that is used for eating and leaves that are used for healing. "Every month they'll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them."
And just like Oswald Chambers said, faith is not a life of only mountaintops. "Rivers can flow down mountains, through valleys (depressions) or along plains, and can create canyons or gorges in some cases." As we wade into the depth of the river, God will take us down mountains, through valleys, and across plains. But what an adventure to know that our journey is carrying us towards God's destination of making things new, making things fresh, producing fruit that will not fail. So no matter if we are in the wilderness or not, we can seek life from the Source that never fails to give life and take us deeper.
Let us sink into the depths of his great river of life, our Source, because it is from the Source that we receive life to thrive in the wilderness.
Reagan Alissa McDonald
