The Weekly Word - A Devotion for the Week of June 1
A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. – Genesis 2:10
Have you found yourself feeling overwhelmed or hopeless in the face of large-scale disasters like the current COVID-19 pandemic or global or local poverty? Maybe you find yourself questioning, “What can I do that will make any difference at all?” Perhaps your gestures of help and support feel inconsequential or meaningless.
Consider these words by Indian activist and missionary Pandita Ramabai:
“All the work being done in this vast country is but a drop in the ocean. But every particle added will increase the drop, so it will be multiplied and permeate the ocean until it becomes a stream of the living water that flows from under the throne of God, to give life and joy to this nation.”
Ramabai was writing about her native India, a country in which hundreds of thousands of people suffer from hunger, homelessness, poverty and disease every day. But what a vision of hope she offers – droplet by droplet, a steam of living water gathers, flowing out from God and then dividing into multiple tributaries to wend their way around every part of Earth – quenching, sustaining and replenishing.
Together, we comprise this water. We are the droplets in God’s living stream. Together with all of the Body of Christ, we help to quench physical and spiritual thirst by offering hope; we help to sustain others in the midst of their suffering by offering help, comfort and compassion; and we help to replenish flagging spirits by offering our encouragement and love.
Take heart, knowing that even your smallest act of goodwill or word of kindness contributes to the larger living stream of love in the world.
Gracious God, I am but one tiny droplet of water in Your living stream. Use my one droplet – my offering of hope, compassion and love – to contribute in the way You see fit to further Your kingdom here on Earth. Amen.