LifeStraw water bottle that is.
For those of you who may not know, LifeStraw makes an incredible water bottle which filters water as you drink, providing clean water in any situation. It allows you to use water from anywhere, including dirty water from a polluted stream, to put into the bottle and drink with no fear of getting sick because of the filter system. Before the race, my wonderful brother gifted me with one of these bad boys. And I was pumped knowing that wherever I found myself around the world this year, I would always have clean water.
Until I didn’t.
Oops. Sorry, Joe.
It started out like most of our evenings in Colombia. We had worked outside moving rocks and weeding during the day and that evening we attended one of the soccer practices in a sector outside of Bello, Colombia. We had driven quite a ways to get there, nearly all uphill. The sector was up in the mountains overlooking much of suburban Medellin with a gondola running up and down the mountain for easiest access. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I was in awe of the town which had been built up in the hills of the mountains, the winding streets, each one steeper than the next, the lights glittering across the sides of the mountains as it began to get darker, and the gondola lining the side of the mountain bringing people to and from the little town.
As usual, we led the kids in a short devotion and I prayed over the group before we began practice.
Then, we divided up to run drills, practice, and scrimmage alongside the kids. Soccer isn’t my favorite activity in the world. However, pouring into kids, laughing with and talking to them, having them teach me new words in Spanish, and sharing God’s love for them is something that absolutely fills my soul. This practice was no different. We ran and laughed and I loved it.
Until I didn’t.
All throughout practice, a few of the boys began repeatedly asking me for my water bottle. They explained that they didn’t have reusable water bottles they could bring with them to practice and so they often got thirsty. Such a simple request. It broke my heart. But I couldn’t grant it. The first few times they asked, I was able to brush it off. “Lo siento, es mio.” “I’m sorry, it’s mine.” I explained I didn’t have one for every kid and so it wouldn’t be fair to give just one. However, after nearly two hours of them asking over and over, an internal struggle began to well up in my mind.
“I can’t give up my LifeStraw! It was a gift. It was expensive. It was my brother’s way of taking care of me this year. It is going to be necessary in many of our countries. I only have the one so I can’t share with every kid. I’m gone for a year…”
Thought after thought of why I shouldn’t give away my LifeStraw raced through my mind but the boys kept asking, over and over. With all the thoughts running around, a final phrase silenced them all.
Matthew 5:42
“Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.”
I looked at those cute little faces and I couldn’t say no again. In that moment I wasn’t thinking about healthy boundaries recognizing that it is okay to say no sometimes. I wasn’t thinking about the LifeStraw being a gift, being necessary, being expensive. I wasn’t thinking about all the reasons not to give away my LifeStraw. I was only thinking about our call as Christians to surrender our lives for the sake of the gospel to show the love of Christ in whatever way possible, including giving my LifeStraw. I want to be someone who can give up anything at any time for the sake of loving my neighbor and therefore mirroring Christ. I want to be someone who can lay down my life for my friend, regardless of what it costs me, trusting in the Lord’s provision. So, I unclipped my LifeStraw from my pack and handed it over as the little boys ran gleefully away.
I wish I could say the sweet relief of obedience flooded my mind.
But, it didn’t.
I was immediately sick to my stomach. But, not because I had given away my LifeStraw. No, I was sick to my stomach because I had given it away here.
Where we were in Bello, Colombia, the water is potable. There are stores everywhere. There are countless tiendas selling bottles of pop and water incredibly cheap, which could be used over and over. Visions of my three months in Africa filled my mind. There it would be a different story. I felt wave after wave of gut wrenching guilt fill my head.
“I’m going to be in countries where people can’t drink the water. I’m going to be in places where they don’t even have access to drinking water. There will be children literally dying for the option of clean water. This water bottle could have been used to do so much good!! … Somewhere else.”
As we left that night and into the next day I was frustrated, sad, and frankly, a little bitter. I could not fathom how I willingly gave away my most powerful and important resource to help those in need; the gift of life, the gift of clean water. I gave away the most precious gift I had to someone who didn’t need it.
I thought for sure I had made a terrible mistake.
Until I didn’t.
As he usually does, the Lord spoke some truth into my hard head while I journaled my frustrations to him.
The Lord spoke to me, “I AM the LifeStraw. I willingly gave away my Son, Jesus Christ, the most powerful and important resource to help those in need; the gift of eternal life, the gift of living cleansing water. I gave away the most precious gift I had, my Son, to people who didn’t think they needed it.”
Facepalm.
Here I was, agonizing over a WATER BOTTLE, when I have the gift of ETERNAL LIFE living inside of me!! I could not believe how blind I had been. Thank you, Lord, for mercy. It is not my job to be the LifeStraw. The Lord God, the only living water, the only one that satisfies our thirst, refreshes our soul, gives life and hope, cleans our hearts and minds, is the ultimate LifeStraw. And life with the Lord is a free gift. The gift of sharing the Good News that our God is Risen and desires a relationship with us which cleanses us of sin and fills our thirsty hearts with water that will never run dry, the Living Water that is Jesus, is a gift I can give every moment of every day. That is a gift worth sharing.
Matthew 5:42
“Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.”
I will give my LifeStraw over and over again until my last day. That is, the gospel of Christ and the infinite love he has for us, his children. No matter who I meet around the world, the very best thing I could ever give them is the knowledge that they have a Father in Heaven who loves them so much that he sent his Son to die for their sins, to be their Savior and have a relationship with them which transforms their hearts and fills them with the water of life. After all, that is the very reason Christ came to earth, to share that gift.
But it’s not my doing or my strength, it’s all by the power and glory of God. It’s what he did for me and for the world.
We can’t out give you, Lord. God, you gave everything for us, your very life. You did it willingly and freely. Many throw the gift of life away. You gave your life for those who wouldn’t appreciate it. You gave your life for those who think they don’t need it. You gave away the most precious thing in the world – the Son of God. And you did it so we could have living water forever. Thank you. We praise you and we love you.
