Find your sanctuary in silence. If there is a hush, a stillness, that has made residence deep within, rest with it instead of resisting it. Know it is only for a set time the Divine has chosen. It is a time of pruning. Trust Him and have faith in His design. He is the master Gardener and will prune vines for you to bear more fruit. Let your limbs stretch toward the overflowing water of the Holy Spirit during the process, as vines that are stagnant are removed.

Water refreshes, and I swam for a short while this evening to beat the summer heat, just before sitting down to write. Swimming a few laps, I felt such peace. Enveloped by water where my body does not have to battle the full force of gravity, I realized on an interior level we are buoyed up in all of our circumstances by the Lord. At times, life may weigh upon us, and we may feel we are sinking. Yet, our feelings may mislead us in the spiritual realm. We cannot rely on our feelings, but on the Spirit, the Divine breath of life, Who resides in the temple of our bodies.

The Hebrew word ruach means “breath of life, wind, spirit” and is introduced in the very beginning of Genesis:

“In the beginning God created heaven, and earth. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters” (Genesis 1:2).

The New Testament provides a greater understanding of the Spirit. The Lord’s time at the well with a Samaritan woman was an opportunity for Him to express how the Holy Spirit acts as living water:

“A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” [The woman] said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:7-14).

Our bodies are comprised primarily of water, and we need water to survive. In Christ’s exchange with the woman at the well, He explained that we also need the water of eternal life, the Holy Spirit, to quench the deepest thirst of our soul.

At the Last Supper, Jesus promised a comforter, knowing His passion was about to commence. He wanted to encourage the disciples before He was separated from them and died on the cross:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:15-18).

How amazing to ponder that the very Spirit of God dwells within us. The Creator of the universe loves us so much He wants to live inside us. No trial or circumstance should shake us from this certainty. Next time you look at the water or feel the wind against your face, please take a moment to thank God for the gift of the indwelling Spirit.