THE WATER WELL
Numbers 21.7: "Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it."
I received a call from a friend of mine. He wanted me to help him dig a well for a small church in the edge of the next county. Over the years, this church had many troubles, including the wells going dry. When he asked me to help, I felt the presence of the Lord so I knew that the Lord had just given me another mission.
I loaded my tools on my old Datsun pickup (it was using so much oil that I just poured the oil over the motor and let it leak through the cracks! Not really; just kidding, although it did use much oil). I drove the 16 miles to the church where some others had gathered to help dig the well. Before we began, we all joined together in a circle of prayer and asked the Lord to bless our efforts and the church.
After prayer, I said, "Let me go down in that old open well to see if it could be cleaned out." I climbed down a ladder, and at about 12 feet, saw that the well was clogged up with all kinds of debris. I climbed up the ladder and stated, "This well represents what has happened to this church over the years. It needs a new refreshing spring of water...a new well."
One elderly gentleman there stated, "Well, you can try to dig a new well but you probably won't be successful. All of the other five wells have been failures." These wells had been dug at places where someone had used a divining stick to determine where the underground source of water was. I knew the use of divination was not of God (Deuteronomy 18.10).
I prayed and asked the Lord to show me where to dig. I know God knows where everything is located. He answered my prayer, and showed me a spot and told me we would hit water at 29 feet. We began to dig and things started going wrong. Pipes broke. Pumps tore up. The enemy sure didn't want us to get water!
Three days later, cool refreshing water was flowing from that 29 feet deep well. The church began to flourish and grow and 12 years later, the water is still flowing...despite the severe drought the state of Georgia experienced. Not only that, the church membership grew and grew, and the Lord continues to bless that church to this day.
The day we hit water, I left to go back home. My old Datsun's motor blew up, and I was stranded beside the road. Within five minutes, a man pulled over and offered to give me a ride. He said, "I normally don't stop to help anyone but for some reason I had to stop." As he drove me home, I told him what I had been doing and about some of the men who had helped. One of these men was his first cousin who he hadn't seen in awhile. I ended up talking to this man about Jesus and praying for him. Even the breakdowns and stops are ordered by the Lord.
Later, I sold the Datsun for $100. The man took the truck and never paid me. The church too forgot to pay me for the work on the well. Oh well, I know everything belongs to God.
John 4.14: "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
Irvin L. Rozier
About the Author
author of My walk with the Lord, www.selahbooks.com, preacher, retired US Army