Flow Like A River

Be like water.

I’m sure many of us have heard this phrase. Maybe you’ve read about this or maybe you’ve seen the video of Bruce Lee discussing this; either way, you know where I’m coming from.

Well this quote made me think of how God gives everything a perfect purpose, and how everything He’s created can be used as an analogy for us to understand Him better.

So today, rather than being like water, let’s think of flowing like a river.

We read in Scripture that “One who wanders from the way of good sense will rest in the assembly of the dead” – Proverbs 21:16, and as we think about flowing like a river, wandering not just from the source, but from the WAY of good sense is something many of us never want to be our story but it still happens anyways.

Rivers are bodies of water that move water from point A to point B. Point A sits higher than point B, and the water flows downhill until it empties into a larger body of water like a sea or an ocean.

Rivers act like the steps or a school bus one might say, that help the waters forming in high areas reach the destination of the pool of water in the low ones.

I grow closer to my Father when I ask Him questions. As I understand that He created all things and all things have a purpose, I was trying to understand the purpose of rivers. With little research you can find a quick answer to almost anything these days (I didn’t say you’d find the right answer). So after doing the research, I quickly read that the purpose of a river is to supply fresh water to support life and ecosystems, and that this happens by gravity literally pulling the water downhill.

In other words, water starts high and flows down to the bottom, supplying a substance that supports the sustainability and growth of life.

So why would God give us examples of His grace and daily new mercies everyday through something as simple as a river?

Well, because no matter how lost we are, there is always a path that will take us back to the top. His word is perfect and all the answers we seek are available to us if we’d just listen. He says we are like a light that shines on top of a hill, and I don’t know the last time you try to cover the radiance of one of the street lights in your neighborhood, but you can only cover yourself from how bright they can be down below, not above it.

As water flows down and supports life everywhere it goes, this is how God blesses us each and every day. He tells us that if we say we know Him then we ought to walk like Him.

Well for me and my house, this family will walk like Him, and this means we need to continue to ensure that the work we are producing is flowing down into every nook and cranny to ensure it is positively supporting life in every ecosystem, and this can only happen when you steward your portion faithfully.

This can only happen when you find wholeness in walking in a constant state of giving like God does for us every second of every day.

So as we focus on flowing like a river, take sharp notice at how God designed the river with a purpose to go from high to low and not low to high. And along the way as it goes from high to low, there’s tons of little additions that are being made to the downstream flow that continues to make it’s movement even larger. It starts like a small tiny stream until it becomes a large body of water.

Notice how this doesn’t mean you yourself have to be the vehicle that is flowing downhill. Meaning you don’t physically need to be driving the bus.

The destination isn’t the purpose as much as the journey. The journey is what being a doer of the word actually looks like.

So take your portion and throw it on the bus that’s already driving down there and watch our ecosystem begin to permeate. Your portion is yours to STEWARD and MANAGE, but it already has a PURPOSE.

Keep it aligned with it’s purpose and focus on flowing like a river in your community. There’s always a way for us to be like God and help someone else. You will always know something more than at least one other person that you can give wisdom so they’re not receiving the wounds.

Financial Stewardship in it’s entirety can be summarized as “caring enough to manage and grow your portion for the benefit of others.”

So if being a sound financial steward is something you want to have part of your resume on Judgement Day, let’s come together and deposit our portions to grow this river.

I’m excited to be on this journey with you.

Love you, appreciate you, and God Bless you and yours.

EJM