I wrote the title over this blog and wondered if the statement is even true. Can a steward’s well be dry?
If you have been reading my previous blogs on my thoughts on stewardship you will know we have been sitting in Jeremiah 2, where God tells Israel they have forsaken the Source of Living Water and have built for themselves cisterns that don’t hold water. When Dave read the blogs he wondered out loud to me these thoughts: “What happens when we come to God and we build proper cisterns, but there is no water to find – the cistern is dry? What do we do when we feel like we are running dry?”
Maybe this question gets you thinking too. If we were gathered together, cup of coffee in hand, we could maybe come up with some significant answers to this question together. We could probably even “google” an answer.
But what did Jesus say?
Jesus calls the water He gives – “living water” and it would be a fountain. He told the woman at the well in Samaria that anyone who comes to Him and drinks of the water He gives, it “will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)
It is water that is alive, flowing, and brings life that leads to eternal life. This is the living water from the Source of Living Water that we hold in the cisterns we have built with the materials of the Kingdom of God.
So, inside of me, there is a fountain of living water.
Pause.
What do I believe about this? Do I always feel there is life bubbling up inside of me, and out of me? To be honest it doesn’t always feel that way. To be honest, service to family, to friends, to church seems to be draining the cistern dry.
But a steward is a manager of resources, a disciple of all God teaches and gives. As a steward, I am a simple conduit, or cistern in this illustration, where His living water runs through me. I am not responsible to source and create the living water. My job truly is simple – it is to allow the living water of God to flow through me, to bring life to other people.
If, then, I feel dry and empty, I need to stop and discover the blockages to the flow of God in me. I need to stop and consider why I feel dry and empty, and question whether what I am feeling is really true?
Need for Rest
There is a lot of talk these days about the speed of our world, the rest we need, and how so many of us are running at full speed – a speed that may be killing us. The promise of technology slowing our world down many decades ago has simply not come true. Instead it has sped up, faster and faster. And there are no signs it will stop.
Some of us are seeing the signs of this speed in our own lives. So much of how we live is draining us. Our cisterns are empty simply because we are going to the wrong source, spending time on the wrong thing. There is no sustaining living water apart from what Christ offers, but we keep looking to the “water” promised by Egypt. These promises made in the land of slavery may last a moment or even a little longer, but they don’t leave us filled with hope or peace over the long haul.
What We Know!
We know a steward needs to have her tank full. One who manages what God gives needs to be filled with what God gives – for her own well-being and also the well-being and growth and nourishment of others.
So if you are feeling that as a steward of God’s resources, and as a disciple who carries the living water of Christ, you are more empty than full, I suggest one thing – slow down.
Slow Down
Anyone who knows me will be laughing when they read this. On the outside my life is full and crazy and it doesn’t appear that I know how to slow down. However, slowing down in my day has become a part of what I do and who I am becoming.
In his book on spiritual formation and transformation, The Good and Beautiful God, James Bryan Smith recommends slowing down as a spiritual exercise that we practise regularly as part of our journey with Christ. It is in slowing down we understand that God does not hurry in the development of our Christian life. We may have to create margin by withdrawing from our scheduled lists before we can slow down, but consider a few of these ideas.
Remember to breathe and refocus on Christ – Christ is in you the Hope of Glory. Spend a few minutes during parts of the day, meditating on this truth. Remind yourself to do this if you have to, by setting your alarm at regular intervals throughout the day.
Slow down when you drive. Drive the speed limit intentionally. Drive in the slow lane. Put on music you love. Enjoy the drive.
Put a time in your calendar every week where you “date” yourself. Go take a bath, take a leisurely walk, be silent. Turn off technology.
Speaking of technology. Be vigilant about having technology-free moments, minutes, hours, even a day. We are still trying to figure out what that looks like in our home, but we are getting there. Turning off technology brings rest.
Take a Sabbath every week. God gave it to us for a reason. To rest. Six days you labour. Rest on the seventh. Find what is restful for you and be in that rest. And honour God in your Sabbath by talking to Him, and worshipping Him. Sometimes going to church is not restful for me, so I spend my private time with Him while Dave takes the kids to church. Sabbath rest is essential for a steward.
You will notice I haven’t talked too much about “having devotions” or praying or reading your Bible. Yes, those practises are also important, but sometimes I find that when I feel empty, I need to reboot my mind and body before I jump into those Christian disciplines. Rest for my mind and body in God’s presence is essential to who I am personally as a steward. I know that in times of great distress, as I have learned to decompress, I have played a lot of Sudoku puzzles before I could ever open my Bible. Give yourself permission to rest in ways that will bring you back to nourishment spiritually.
And once again how does all this pertain to our personal financial journey?
One thing we know is true, and we see regularly at More Than Enough, is that when we slow down long enough to face our finances, we start to get a handle on where our money has gone and where it is going. Our financial journey will run away from us if we don’t stop and look at our bank accounts, our financial goals, and our spending plans. Slowing down is essential to us as stewards in managing the resources of the Kingdom of God. So slow down, breathe, open up your financial documents and see exactly where you are.
The simple practise of slowing down gives us financial perspective and helps us take practical steps to getting a grip on our spending. It is part of stewardship.
If you feel your cistern is dry, go back to the Source of Living Water, but go with the intent of slowing down long enough to decompress, hear from His heart, and discover what He says about your spiritual journey and your finances.