When the Water Rises

“And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’” Acts 11:16 ESV

I have been privileged to live in a variety of locations and in doing so I have experienced a variety of natural disaster type events. I've sat in hallways with tornados blowing by. Moved inland to watch the sky turn orange during a hurricane. I have driven in and been closed in by blizzards and most recently I sat through a flood. 

I have to be honest the flooding seemed more challenging than the others. I'm not sure why. If it was the fear of losing power or not being able to just take control and drive out or just waiting to see if the water would rise so high that it would enter the house and we would have to leave. I honestly don't know how Mrs. Noah didn't go crazy during the flood. 

One of the first things I noticed as the waters rose is that everything and I mean even heavy things began to float. Things that weren't attached and some that were attached just began to rise up and move. I chased gas cans and trash cans and fished some other floating debris before it could get too far away. 

Then the water started to recede and we were able to survey the damage and go to church. What a blessing to be able to get out. And then God showed me a beautiful lesson. There is debris. Lots of debris. It was flushed out of unknown places. Pieces of wood and excess stuff and lots of trash. And now it's lying al over waiting to be gathered up and thrown away or burned. 

What a great image of how the Holy Spirit works. He floods our life with His power and presence. He washes out the debris. The light easy things and the heavy nasty things. He cleanses us of all the impurities that on our own we don't always recognize. And it's overwhelming and continual. 

At first He comes in quickly and washes away the stuff we know needs to go. But over time He continues to flood us and sometimes we struggle with the enormity of the water and we try to hold on to the debris. It hurts and it's wedged deep inside but the Spirit keeps flowing and eroding those places away. 

Finally as we see the debris we gather it up and let it burn out of our lives. We throw it away and realize that we are becoming cleaner and clearer and more like Him. I read a blog today that said our greatest dream should be Jesus. Jesus can't be where the debris (sin) is. It has to be washed away by the Spirit. That's why Jesus came to wash away our sins and cleanse us from our impurities and the Holy Spirit is the power that continues to clean us. 

When we allow the floods to wash the impurities then God restores and rebuilds us in stronger purer form. We are His and will someday stand pure in His presence. 

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7 ESV

The best part of being flooded by he Spirit is that He will fill us with the better things. The things that don't need to be burned or tested. The fruits of the Spirit. 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22-23 ESV

That's what the Spirit is doing when He floods our lives. Making room for the fruit. Are you prepared for the flood of His presence?  Let him wash away the debris and let the fruit grow.