Water in my hands.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Trusting in the Creator of the universe Who is the life giving force that brings us through all our trials.; listening to His still small voice and yielding to His leading enables us to have that trust which fills our veins with courage to shoot forth our branches as a tree and to allow the seedlings to fall where they may, to grow and flourish.

When do I hear the sweetness of His still small voice? I hear Him when I am engaged in rote activity such as washing dishes, which requires little or no thought or when it’s tranquil like when I’m in the garden early in the morning, or late at night when I am in bed thinking and silently praying, or in my quiet time of reading His Word. 

Sometimes, while I am driving, it seems I am on automatic pilot and impressions from Creator flood my mind and His voice is so profound and clear to me that I hear myself talking to Him out loud. This happened one time in particular while I was driving out to my sister’s house which was located in a little country hamlet about a two hour drive from my place I was making the trip once a week so that she and I could do Bible studies together. 

My sister “P” loves deeply and is passionate about all that she does. When she decides to do something, she is unstoppable. She has tremendous strength and can be a true powerhouse especially when she is focused in a productive and positive way. She was determined to learn and to study so it was my pleasure to make the drive every week to study with her. I was always extremely blessed by our visits and I will forever treasure it as a wonderful, rewarding experience. However, at the time I was going through some heartaches of my own with some of my teenagers.  My  second oldest daughter had decided to leave home while she was still very young and, in my mind, innocent and fragile.  I felt she was not ready to go and her exit from the home was neither gentle nor agreeable. 

As I was driving down the quiet, country road to my sister’s house, thoughts of my daughter were continually going through my mind and I was praying constantly for her. Spirit began impressing on my heart, and I felt a resonance inside me, it was Him saying to me, “Heather, children are like water.” I said, “What!? Children are like water?” Then I heard again, “Heather, children are like water.” “If you hold your hands just so, in such a way as to form a bowl, just like trying to hold water – you can hold onto them for a little while.”  My tears started flowing as I heard the Spirit in my mind, saying… “If you hold them too tightly and close your hands they will be gone out of your hands…and fall to the ground.” I said, groaning and crying “Oh Father I am so sorry, so sorry! I didn’t mean to hold on too tight.”  Memory vignettes were flashing through my mind as I would recall all the times that I had been too hard on her, all the times that I made the mistakes of holding on too tightly, now the tears were flowing so hard and I was crying out loud. 

Then Spirit said to me in that still, small voice, “Heather, if you hold on too loosely the water will slip through your fingers and fall to the ground.”  With this my crying subsided and I thought, “Oh, that’s right!  There were times when I did let go, and there were times that I held on… maybe I just didn’t have the right balance.”  The thought persisted, “Maybe I had to open my hands gently into a proverbial bowl or vessel in order to cradle her and allow her to be, open, drinking in the sunshine and the world around her and yet held with boundaries around her so that she knew where the edges were.” 

I tried to compose myself, as I was now pulling up to my sister’s home. The two hour drive went by so quickly and I felt I wanted to stay in the Presence learning from Spirit as long as possible, however, I went into my sister’s house and shared with her what Spirit has shown me.  I spent the next couple of hours with her doing our Bible study and then left again for the drive home. 

As I was driving back home, I began thinking about the events of the day and going over all of it in my mind again, thanking and praising the Self-Existent One for all that He had taught and shown me that day.  Once I had gone over all of this in my mind, I again heard Spirit say to me, “Heather children are like water.” I responded, “Yes, I know; thank You for teaching me this.” Then I heard again, “Heather, children are like water… if you hold your hands just so, like a bowl, you will be able to hold onto them for a little while; if you hold on too tightly they will be forced out and fall to the ground.” As I heard this the tears began to flow once more and I asked why He was telling me this again, I had already repented. Then He said to me, “If you hold on too loosely they will fall through your fingers, out of your hands and be gone.” I continued crying and saying, “Thank You, Father for revealing this to me, help me to do better in the future.”

I knew that since I have two children left at home under my guidance, He was telling me this again for their benefit. Then Spirit said to me, “Heather, don’t be worried for your daughter.  The water that falls to the ground will fall on the seeds that you have planted.”  At this I burst into tears again except this time they were tears of joy and gratitude.

I knew He was saying that all the good I had done, all the times I had spoken of Him, exalting His name, being an example, reading the Scriptures and singing. All of these things were going to grow in her and she would turn out to be like a tree planted by the River of water. 

That day I knew I had been in the presence of Creator of heaven and earth; the waters, mountains and all living creatures!!  …even now I am at His feet listening and learning. 

I pray that this will bless you and encourage you…and I hope that this gives you an understanding of what I mean when I say “Hearing is sweet”. 

Be inspired…