The water had been shut off for the day and we had no idea when it was going to be turned back on.
We live in an area where the tap water is not safe to drink so we rely on bottled water for drinking water. And doing that had not been an issue, there’s a small tienda right down the stairs from where we live that has water and snacks (including ice cream!) and we are also within walking distance from two different grocery stores so drinking water was easily enough for us to get.
That day that the water had been shut off we went down to the tienda to get some water to drink and there was not a bottle on the shelf. A teammate and I, Kalie, walked up the street to another tienda and found the same result, there was no water. Now this wasn’t the best news but we just went to plan B and we gathered the rest of the team and headed to the grocery store in search for bottled water. The store seemed just like every other time we had gone in there but when we turned the corner onto the aisle where the water was I was completely taken aback. It was like a scene from a movie. People were clumped together grabbing whatever water they could as the store employee yelled over the crowd “Solo cuatro por persona!” Only 4 per person. There were 6 of us from our team at the store so we figured we could make it out of there with 24 bottles, we were wrong. After two girls went up and grabbed their allotted 4, we were stopped by the employee telling us it was 4 per family, not person as he had just said. We tried to explain that there were 8 of us living together but that did not do us any good. The water was in such limited quantities, the store had to put a ration on the bottles they had. As we were walking away towards the check-out, somewhat defeated, I picked up a pack of Gatorade to buy as well because it was still something we could drink. While checking out we asked the cashier if they knew when more water would be in stock she said she did not know and to try again tomorrow.
When we returned to our home we put our water out on the table and while it looked like a lot, we knew it wouldn’t last too long. We had a separate pile we were creating of the empty water bottles and slowly that pile seemed to equal the pile of safe drinking water. Each day we would buy the water we could find in the stores and add it to our table.
We, thankfully, never went without clean drinking water. There were times when I didn’t think I would be able to say that. I remember one moment looking at our 8-2L bottles and asking the question “At what point do we ask AIM for help?” Each night for about a week, I would fall asleep not knowing if the water would be on the next morning and for almost a week I would wake up and learn the answer was “no”. But one morning, there was a different answer. It’s a strange moment when you wake up to the sound of a flushing toilet and it causes your heart to skip a beat and to be filled with joy but that’s exactly what happened.
I learned something really beautiful through all of this, Jesus is nothing like this water. He is so much more than that. He will never run out or stop coming after me. I am never going to have to wait in a crowded line filled with frustrated people only to be told there isn’t enough Jesus for me. And if I put my hope into things other than Him, I will end up hot, sweaty, and exhausted.
I feel like the Samaritan woman in John 4. Jesus is standing right in front of me offering the “spring of water welling up to eternal life” and I, in return ask
“Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water” 4:14-15.
I, like the Samaritan woman, missed what Jesus was saying. I thought the Lord’s provision would come as a bottle of water when in reality He had so much more in mind. But here’s the beautiful part, I don’t have to “get it” in order to receive it. Jesus’ grace covers my disbelief and my confusion. It isn’t something I have to ask and beg for and earn, it is something I already have. And the best part is, I can have all I want and no one is going to tell me to wait and try again tomorrow
