Cracked

     I recently found myself wanting to crawl in the crib with my 11-month-old for a morning nap.  I was completely drained.  I had no energy, no motivation, and my patience was wearing thin. Thankfully Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood has been added to Netflix so my three-year-old was completely and totally absorbed while I tried to pull myself together.

     The idea of being drained came to mind again as I was reading my Bible the other day.  The charges of infidelity are again being brought against Israel.  God is again using a prophet to remind Israel of what they have given up…his glory in exchange for worthless, man-made idols. (Jeremiah 2:11)

     God speaks to the Israelites saying, “My people have committed two sins: they have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” –Jeremiah 2:13

     This idea of a broken cistern continued to stay with me, playing over and over in my mind, so I decided to do a little investigating of my own.  Enter, Google.  (How anyone got anything done before Google entered the scene is beyond me.) 

     To quote Dorothy Ann from The Magic School Bus (also a new addition to Netflix…don’t judge me). “According to my research…”, cisterns were dug in ancient Israel as a type of reservoir.  The summer months proved to be long and dry for the Israelites and because of the soft limestone in and around Jerusalem, digging these well-like cavities made perfect sense. During times of rain, the cisterns could collect the run-off water from roofs and surface water.  The people developed a type of plaster to coat the cisterns in an effort to prevent the water from seeping out.  Cracks were prone to develop though, resulting in the drainage of the cisterns.

     As I began to read more about these ancient cisterns and consider verse 13, I was struck with the idea that I have at times forsaken God’s glory to dig my own cisterns…and end up completely drained.

     I know that God has a plan for me.  I know he has my best in mind.  I even believe that God desires good things for my life, but somewhere along the way, I give him up for my own desires, plans, hopes, and dreams…I begin digging cisterns.

     For the most part, I think most of my cisterns were actually started with the best of intentions.  I want to be a loving wife, patient mom, good friend, take care of my body, be successful in my ventures. All of these things are good.  In fact, I think that God even wants these things for me.  I would even go as far to say these things are biblical. 

     The trouble with these cisterns though is that once they’ve been dug, they have to be filled.  So, I dig my cistern and fill it with my hopes, dreams, plans, and desires.  I may even be able to keep it full for a while, but eventually a crack will form and my cistern will be completely drained and leave me empty.

     It seems like such a hopeless situation.  I mean my hopes of having these good relationships and being successful are noble.  Heck, they might even qualify as godly…so what’s the deal?  Why is God trying to stand in my way?  Why is he all up in the Israelites’ business anyway?

     The problem isn’t that we have hopes and dreams or plans.  The problem is that we’ve forsaken God in the search for those things.  The problem is that when we leave God out of the equation, we are left doing these things on our own strength, our own energy, our own…and eventually our own strength and our own energy is going to be drained, it isn’t going to be enough to maintain the well.  Or we end up as my friend Corinna would say, “cracked”. (And if you’ve been reading my blog long enough, you know that I am definitely cracked…) Our lack of strength and our abundance of cracks only leave us one place…empty.

     The answer lies between where we forsake God and where we begin to dig and fill our cisterns.  God tells us He is, “the spring of living water”(verse 13).  A spring is a source of flowing water.  It isn’t replenished by our efforts or drained because of cracks.  When we tap (no pun intended) into the source of living water, the spring of living water, he can fill us to overflowing.  Through him, we have the strength to be a loving wife, a patient mom, a good friend, take care of our bodies, be successful in the ventures we take, and then some.  We are no longer limited to our own ability, but depend on God who, “…is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” –Ephesians 3:20

     So what do you say?  Are you tired of wasting your own energy?  Let’s throw our shovels aside and save our energy for something else…like say, new additions on Netflix? (Kidding!)

Lord, forgive me for forsaking you and digging cisterns that hold nothing.  Lead me to your living water that never fails.