When the Waters Part

“Living Waters” is a fairly large triptych  I painted several years ago. It’s one of my personal favorites, and over the years I’ve loved watching pieces of it go into homes as Giclée prints.

Living Waters has always had a place on the walls wherever I’ve lived.
But this little house I’m living in now simply doesn’t have a wall big enough for it.

I thought about selling it.

Cherie said, “No girl! Just hang two of them in your hallway and put the other one in storage.”

So I decided I kind of liked that idea. I hung my favorite panels in the hallway, and the other one was simply propped against a wall, waiting for its turn to go into storage.

Until I walked past it.

The first time I saw it standing there, I knew.  It had to go on that wall.

And when I walked down that hallway for the first time with both pieces hanging opposite each other, it literally took my breath away.

It looked like the parting of the waters.
And suddenly, “Living Waters” took on an entirely new message.

I began seeing the garden.

The Red Sea.

The Jordan.

And so much more.

There is something deeply prophetic about the waters parting throughout Scripture.

In Genesis, God separates the waters and brings order out of what was without form.

Moses stands before the Red Sea, with an entire nation behind him and nowhere to go. Then God makes a way through the very thing that appeared to be an impossible barrier.

Joshua and the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant step toward the Jordan, and the waters divide as they enter the Promised Land.

Elijah strikes the Jordan with his cloak, and the waters part.

Then Elisha picks up Elijah’s mantle, returns to that same river, strikes the waters, and they part again.

Do you see the pattern?
The waters move when God says it is time to cross.
The water wasn’t the enemy.
It was simply between them and what was next.

And I wonder if some of us are standing in that place right now.
Looking at something that seems too deep to cross.

Too wide to navigate.

Too impossible to overcome.

Maybe you’ve been staring at the same waters for so long that you’ve started believing they are permanent.

But what if they aren’t?

What if the thing you have been calling an obstacle is actually the place where God is about to reveal His power?

What if the waters are about to move?

There are seasons when God doesn’t remove the water.  He tells you to step toward it.

Joshua’s priests had to put their feet in the Jordan before the waters stopped.
Faith often looks like taking one more step when you cannot yet see the path.

And maybe that is the word for someone reading this today:

It’s time to step forward.
Not because you can see everything.
Not because you have all the answers.
Not because you know how it will happen.
But because you know Who is standing with you.

The God who separated the waters in Genesis is still God over your waters.
The God who made a way through the Red Sea is still making ways.
The God who stopped the Jordan is still able to stop what has been standing between you and your promise.

And maybe the crossing you’ve been afraid of is actually the doorway into a new season.
A new beginning.
A new identity.
A new assignment.
A new level of freedom.
A place you could not have entered without first crossing something.

So look again at your waters.
What have you been standing in front of?
What have you assumed would always remain?
What has God been asking you to step toward?

Because I believe there are waters that are beginning to move.

And what looks like the end of the road may actually be the beginning of your crossing.

Maybe God hasn't brought you this far to leave you standing on the shore.

Maybe He is saying:
“Step in.”
“Cross over.”
“I am making a way.”
And perhaps, like me, you are going to look back one day and realize—
the very thing you thought was in your way was the place where God revealed
He was making a way.

Living Waters.  I painted it years ago.
But somehow, I think I’m only beginning to understand what it was saying.

No matter how you cut it, I see breakthrough.

And I rest in wonder…

What do you see? 
#jesus