The Well

I'm a big fan of the band Casting Crowns. Their music is so Biblical and convicting. It isn't just catchy like so much of today's Christian music, it has real meaning. 

When I found out the lead singer, Mark Hall, had written a book I had to read it! I was not disappointed. He talks about how the "dry holes" of accomplishments, possessions, relationships and many other goals we work for can never fully satisfy us. Their rewards are temporary and often divert us from God's offer of abundant, sustaining life.

"Some of us try to use friendship as a well. If we have friends, we're OK; and if we do not have the friendship and approval of others, we focus on the void. Some of us try to make wells out of a more intimate person -a spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend. Some of us draw from the depths of our intellect, talents or skills to derive a sense of identity or contentment. Some rely on strength, past successes or even assumptions of a better situation or a better tomorrow. Whatever it is, most of us have a few "wells" we count on to sustain us and bring us joy, security, hope, peace and contentment. .. Jesus isn't interested in our ideas of wells."

"My struggle with control seems never ending. As soon as I tell Jesus I'm laying down a burden, I often find myself not bowing at the throne of God, the fountain of living waters. Instead I lean over my familiar Well Of Control and pull up the same rope that callused my hands with strife, worry and fear. I tug the same battered bucket full of the same tired self-assurance. I guess I do it to protect my heart is nothing else." 

"Paul says that if we've had any encouragement from being  united with Christ, we don't need encouragement from other people. If our comfort is from Christ's love, we don't have to look out for our own interests. Our comfort is from Him.We cant make people the source of all our encouragement and love. They can't handle the job. They're not made for it. Meanwhile, we can be a true  encouragement and offer genuine love to others only if Jesus is our Well. If He is our comfort, we can give comfort to others."

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