Channels Through the Sun-Scorched Land

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings ~ Isaiah 58:11-12

"A conduit is a channel through which things...move from one point to another...You are designed to be a free-flowing channel for Jesus Christ Himself," (The Word for You Today, 26, Nov. 2009).

Who's been a conduit for you? I'm sure this question instantly brings to mind a handful of specific people for different reasons. It's the same for me. Some were a part of my life for a season, only, and others are still a part of my daily life. The scripture above talks about a "sun-scorched land." All of the people who were conduits in my life were in my life while I was going through my own sun-scorched land. Some of those times were longer than others and some times were more difficult than others. The one thing that all of the conduits in my life have in common is that they all stuck through the sun-scorched times and helped to develop within me my own "well-watered garden."

I have already, in previous posts talked about my period of depression. I had one such friend who I would call constantly because I was so lost, I couldn't feel God's love for me anymore. She became that free-flowing channel for me. She had scriptures taped up on the cupboards at her house. She would pull down different ones for me and I would tape them up on our bathroom mirror. At the end of those months, when I was finally free from that deadly pit, she was the one I looked to, but she wouldn't let me stop there. She always turned me toward Jesus and said that it was Him all along. Donna Partow, in her book Standing Firm, talks about the example that my friend was to me: "God will strengthen you and make you like a well-watered garden...you'll be an agent of security and peace, a haven of rest for the weary...people will come to you in their time of crisis. You, in turn can point them to the only One who can guide them through the sun-scorched land," (31). That's what my friend did. Every time I would call or run to her, she would lead me back to God's Word and to His promises. And it was God's Word and His promises that I stood on to get me through, but I also needed her...to point me in the right direction. If she hadn't shown me the way, I don't know if I ever would have made it out.

If there are people in you life who have been "conduits" and "change-agents" for you, make sure to tell them. They'll probably still point you back to God, because it is from Him where their strength flows, but they still need to be appreciated, just the same.