A thought occurred to me last night. Jesus waited two days after Mary and Martha had prayed for Him to come and heal their brother, Lazarus. In their eyes, after their brother had died, their “prayers” had failed, but Jesus purposefully remained where He was – He did not answer their cries – because what He wanted to do was bring the maximum glory to the Father.
The water crisis in the Western Cape is now international news. Some people have wondered why God has not answered their prayers for rain. Could it be that the Lord is waiting to act at a time that will cause the world to know that there is a good God in heaven for Whom nothing is impossible? From now on, I am going to pray that whatever happens, He would receive all the glory and honour due His Name! Pray with me.
Growing up in the United States it was easy for me to take for granted clean, fresh water from the tap. My family has a spring on our property, but even beyond that, freshwater in the US is typically as close as the nearest sink and faucet. The average American household is equipped with a water pump to automatically fill up the toilet, the hot water tank, the washing machine, even our refrigerators!
Water in the Solomon Islands is a different story altogether, especially in the village. The picture featured above shows part of the quaint village Lololo along with the primary water source that runs through it, the Lololo River. In the village, the river is a fundamental component of daily life. It is used for drinking and cooking water, and washing clothes and dishes. It is also used for personal hygiene and even for entertainment–the children love to swim! The river—downstream from drinking, washing, and recreation areas—carries human waste away to the mangroves where it is filtered before it reaches the ocean. In short, a day does not go by in which the river is not used for the flourishing of village life.
“I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.”
—Matthew 25:35 (NIV)
For more than three years Cape Town has not seen rain. A dam that supplies the large city with water is dry. Citizens have been rationed to 50 liters of water a day. Some of your SAMS Missionaries are living in the midst of this. The city will turn off water supplies in April and then will ration people to 25 liters per day.
May I ask you all to pray to our Sovereign Lord to have mercy on us all and to provide us with sufficient water. Pray for us each and every time you quench your thirst with any form of liquid or take a shower or wash your hands or use water to do many of the things we all too often take for granted. From the Scriptures, we learn that there are many ways He can provide water other than rain (cf )…He can also miraculously cause the levels to remain constant as He did with the widow’s jar of flour and jug of oil in 1 Kings 17:14-16. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
-Johann Vanderbijl
As we pray for the rain to come, may we also pray for the citizens of Cape Town to be spiritually quenched? May many come to know that all their needs can be fulfilled by their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Many of you are aware of the water crisis in the Western Cape as the subject has actually made international news headlines in many countries. But for those of us who live in this area, it is not a news item…it is a reality.
May I ask you all to pray to our Sovereign Lord to have mercy on us all and to provide us with sufficient water. Pray for us each and every time you quench your thirst with any form of liquid or take a shower or wash your hands or use water to do many of the things we all too often take for granted.
From the Scriptures we learn that there are many ways He can provide water other than rain (cf 2 Kings 3:16-18a)…He can also miraculously cause the levels to remain constant as He did with the widow’s jar of flour and jug of oil in 1 Kings 17:14-16.
