My day got off to a rough start. Instead of waking up to my alarm, I was awakened first (around 5:30 a.m.) by the ringing of the telephone. Whenever the telephone rings that early, my first thought is: "Somebody died." Thankfully that was not the case. The person on the other line was a homeless, pregnant woman needing some help.
"How did she get my number? Why of all people is she calling me? What does she expect me to do? Does she think that we pastors keep a bunch of money around for early morning emergencies? I'll bet she's just another con artist looking for some quick money. . . ." Shamefully, these were my initial thoughts. But then a certain verse came to mind:
"He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will reward him for what he has done" (Prov. 19:17).
Almost immediately my mindset changed, and I asked the Lord to give me His grace and wisdom as I dealt with this situation.
What's interesting about this verse is that it did not just "pop" out of nowhere. I had just read it in a devotional reading before bed two nights earlier! And it just wasn't a cross-reference, either. It was the headline verse, and the devotional was a pastor's written meditation on it and what it meant. At the time I read it, I thought: "That was nice ... some good insight" - but that was about it. It wasn't until approximately 30 hours later that the relevance of that verse hit me in a very personal and practical way at a critical hour.
This was a great reminder to me of how important it is to digest God's Word on a continual basis. "Thy Word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Psalm 119:11). Here I had begun to sin with an unsympathetic, selfish attitude, yet God rescued me from my sin by bringing to mind that Scripture that had been my recent focus of meditation.
You see, at the time we're reading any given Scripture, it may not impress us all that much right then and there. We may not see its relevance right away. But the fact is, we are filling the well of our hearts with the water of the Word. Then later, when the situation calls for it, some key Scripture comes to mind - a promise, blessing, or command that God brings to mind as His Spirit draws from "the well of the hidden Word." You can imagine how glad I was when God caused that verse to come to mind early this morning. I thought, "Ah! Now I see why God had that verse for me! Thank you, Lord!"
Imagine how much more interesting, blessed, and adventurous life would be if we filled the well of our hearts with God's Word more consistently and conscientiously. Oh, what we miss when we don't!
By the way, God brought everything together in a marvelous way with that needy woman. Within a couple hours, we were able to get her the help she needed by expressing the love of Christ to her in a tangible way and, most importantly, by sharing with her the Good News of salvation.
How is your "well," by the way? Is it deep or running dry?