Have you ever been to a restaurant? The kind where the waitress constantly hovers near your table, petitioning to refill your cup of diet coke? The kind where you are constantly reassured by Jill, your server, that your cup will never be empty?
Have you ever seen a well? The kind that they dig deep into the ground to access the clean water hidden from view? The kind whose depths look black and abysmal to your eyes? The kind you lower a bucket into?
My answer is yes to both questions; however, this isn't really about wells or tumblers of diet coke. This is about character.
So, in life, there are three kinds of topography.
There are the mountain tops - Those moments with God where you feel like He is right there. Like He's in the air and the trees and the sky.
There are the valleys - those moments with God where you feel His heart ache with you, those times where you can just feel His hot tears on your shoulder.
And then there is stable ground - the moments of life that just seem to pass with the click of a ticking clock and the flip of a calendar page.
In some places, if you dig deep enough, you will find a dangerous current of water. Underneath the seemingly boring, there is excitement waiting to be found.
I'm trying to dig a well.
Sometimes I look at my life and wonder why I'm not excited. It usually means that I'm not being challenged. And then, once I am challenged, I look at my life and wonder why things are so difficult.
Lately, I've been really challenged with things that I lack in character in comparison to Jesus. You see, I don't want to be a good citizen or a good Christian, I want people to receive Life from me. So that is my well. How do I become like Him? How do I dig deep enough to access the constant excitement that comes from living the Gospel? How do I dig deep enough to access Jesus' passion for healing the sick, feeding the poor, and showing people the Father?
I can't say that I know what I've gotten myself into. If we are speaking in terms of digging wells, there is no bottom in sight. All I know is that the best way to become like someone is to hang out with them as much as possible.
I'm not going to lie, sometimes hanging out with God feels like scratching the surface of concrete, but the promise of depth and excitement keeps me going. The more I surrender my life to Him and throw the rocks and debris behind me, the more I see.
The more I see that He really did come so I could have life, but not just so I could have any old life, but so that I could have life to the full. Exciting, challenging, adventurous Life.
The more I see that Holy Spirit really is like an overeager waitress, that He always has a refill for me, that I never have to run out of peace or joy or hope.
The more I see that there is a difference between dehydration and thirst.
The more I see that I never have to be dehydrated, I never have to feel like I'm dying or hazy or about to faint of boredom.
The more I see that I will always be thirsty, that I will never, ever get enough relationship with Him.
The more I see that my thirst for right relationship will be continually gratified.
The more I see that character really is about wells and refills of diet coke.
