“Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.” – Exodus 17:6
The children are crouched over tiny buckets, huge smiles on their faces as they wash their clothes and hands. It is laundry day at school. My colleague in Africa recently sent a picture of the children doing their laundry, delighted at having enough water to wash not only themselves, but their clothes. This was just one of the many graces to flow from a grant I wrote that provided the school with water collection and storage tanks. When fundraising for missionary efforts far away, sometimes it feels like our work is but a drop in the bucket. There is so much need out there in the world, and I am but one person trying to do my part. Is my drop enough?
In America, we take it for granted that when we turn on the tap, water will flow. For so many, the tap runs dry and the water that they can find is not fit for human consumption. People must choose carefully how to use those precious few drops.
Moses asks that question of God, what more can he give to the people? The people were thirsting and grumbling, demanding answers of Moses. “Why did you bring us out here to die?” The desperation is palpable. Moses is just one man, he has no more to give- until he turns to God himself. God responds with overwhelming generosity. Water flows from the rock, new life that springs from nothingness. Not just one more drop, but enough for all.
The Samaritan woman comes to the well at the height of the sun’s oppressing glare. Jesus asks her for a drink, causing her to respond with disbelief. What does she, a Samaritan woman, have to offer a Jewish man? Jesus replies, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,‘ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
I show up and say “Jesus, what do I have to offer you? I have nothing of value to give you. My bucket is not big enough, my drop is not enough.” And His reply is the same to me as it was to Moses and to the Samaritan woman. If I ask, He will give me never-ending nourishment. Even if all I have to offer is one small drop, God has promised water that cascades from barren rocks and flows freely for all.
Photo by Олександр Гичко on Unsplash
Jen Coito: Ignatius at Home 