Ashley Bandara, Contemporary Worship Leader 

Job 4:7-9 (NRSV)

7 “For there is hope for a tree,

    if it is cut down, that it will sprout again,

    and that its shoots will not cease.

8 Though its root grows old in the earth,

    and its stump dies in the ground,

9 yet at the scent of water it will bud

    and put forth branches like a young plant. 

Reflection:

You may have heard the phrase “hurt people hurt people.” It’s a phrase that elicits empathy reminding us that we can’t know what is happening internally with someone else. We can’t know how they’ve been torn down, ridiculed, or had everything ripped away – just as Job did. We can’t know how they’ve given up trying to grow, how much they resemble the tree that’s been cut down.

But here’s what I love about this verse and the goodness of God. Merely the scent of water can bring forth new life, new growth, new hope, however small at first. Likewise, just the slightest essence of Jesus, our Living Water, can bring forth rebirth in a worn-down brother or sister. 

When I encounter a tree that has been cut down—someone who may be mean, unkind, or simply despondent—I want to be an open vessel for the Spirit to respond in nourishing and loving ways. I want to set aside my own offense in order to be a conduit of God’s love to them. Maybe, just maybe, somewhere deep in the center of a person, a bud of hope may begin to grow.

It’s my prayer that I could be the humble vessel, the watering can, the mister that delivers that Living Water to others. I am not the Water, but I can spread it far and wide. If God is Love (1 John 4:8), then I will spread love. If the Spirit is further reflected in peace, patience, generosity, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, then I will spread the Spirit through these acts as well.

But before I leave you, I also want to recognize the same hope of renewal in each of us. Wherever we have been torn down, those stumps of the past or maybe the pain of the present do not have to remain as they are forever. If we want to water others, we need to recognize that there is Water in us, healing our dead stumps, healing the places in us that we have denied or can’t even feel anymore because they’ve been dead and forgotten so long. So let us continue to seek Living Water, and slowly, the sprouts of hope, love, peace, and parts of us we couldn’t imagine were there will grow into mighty oak trees of awesomeness.

And then we can pass the Water that worked miracles in us to others. 

Prayer:

Gracious Father, how amazing that you have made us to be vessels for your love. It blows my mind that any small piece of who you are can pass through me into the world and the people around me. God, for any of your children who are hurting, who have been hurt, who have felt the axes and chainsaws of life, who have given up, may they encounter the scent of you, of Living Water. May they encounter floods! And may I be prepared to let the Spirit work through me when I meet them instead of my reactive human ego. Thank you for the fact that it is never too late for rebirth in this life. Never. Thank you for your Living Water. Amen.