Are you ready for some water analogy? It starts with the encounter between a Samaritan woman and Jesus (John 4). We all know the story. The woman came to draw water from the well and met up with her Messiah. Jesus then asked for a drink and the woman was shaken by the request since Jesus, being a Jew, shouldn’t be seen with her, a Samaritan with a sordid history.
To her, Jesus had broken an important protocol. But Jesus was a deliberate protocol breaker. In addition, Jesus also knew that this woman had had a very complicated romantic entanglement. She had five husbands before she met Jesus and the one whom she is currently sleeping with is not her husband. To put it loosely, she was a loose woman. Maybe a very confused soul and Jesus the Messiah shouldn’t have anything to do with her. So, in one hot afternoon, Jesus broke two protocols: mingling with a non-jew and a loose one at that. But protocol breaking was not the message Jesus wanted to impart. His message is this: “…whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of waters springing up into everlasting life.”
This powerful spiritual metaphor of the “fountain of waters springing up into everlasting life” brings to mind an analogy of spiritual growth. Teresa of Avila, Spain, who was a 16th century theologian, and whose life was filled with mystical experiences, once likened our spirit to a garden of soul, which is beautified by Four Water analogy. This water that flows into the garden of our soul symbolizes the Holy Spirit that Jesus was talking about to the Samaritan woman.
In sum, the four Water analogy is as follows: “The garden of the soul, she says, can be watered in several manners. The first, drawing the water up from a well by use of a bucket, entails a great deal of human effort. The second way, cranking a water wheel and having the water run through an aqueduct, involves less exertion and yields more water. The third entails far less effort, for in it the water enters the garden as by an effluence from river or streams The fourth and final way is the best of all: as by a gentle but abundant rainfall the Lord himself waters the garden and the soul does not work at all.”
Beloved, doesn’t this water analogy aptly describe our own spiritual journey and growth? First, we cannot do without the “watering” of the Holy Spirit. He is our partner and guide. Second, that spiritual maturity takes time. It starts with a convicted and repentant heart. Then, we initiate a process to work out our salvation through engaging in spiritual disciplines like meditating, praying, worshipping, servicing and witnessing. Of course, all these take effort on our part. Initially, it is difficult for the obvious reason that it is called “spiritual discipline” and not “spiritual playtime” or “spiritual manicure or spa". The word “discipline” entails deliberate or intentional personal effort, a high and consistent level of purposeful engagement, and a dogged determination to complete the task at hand. This initial stage of our spiritual discipline vacillates between "drawing water with a bucket" and "cranking a water wheel" - both of which take some human effort and exertion.
Third, as we get into the groove of these spiritual disciplines, we also enter into a self-sustaining spiritual momentum like cycling a bike. As we gain momentum, we realize that advancing forward starts to take less and less self-effort and more and more of letting go. This is the third stage of the four Water analogy above whereby “water enters the garden of our soul by an effluence from river or streams.”
Ultimately, when we surrender ourselves fully to God and submit to the assuring promptings of the Holy Spirit, we quite unknowingly and graciously enter into the last stage of our spiritual maturity whereby we experience “a gentle but abundant rainfall the Lord himself waters the garden and the soul does not work at all.” Here I am reminded of a comforting saying, "We cannot surrender our life in an instant. That which is life-long can only be surrendered in a lifetime."
I guess this is the stage when we can echo the sentiments of the Psalmist who said, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” And when that day comes, we can confidently declare that we have indeed sought the Lord, because we have sought Him with all our heart.
So, over time, I hope we do not remain as bucket-and-cranking Christians; but Christians who truly enjoy the rainfall experience as we grow and mature in Christ.
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