John 4:13-14 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but 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 water springing up into everlasting life.”
There is a saying that goes, “Hope springs eternal.” As someone who battled the darkness of depression for over ten years, I once struggled to believe that such a thing was true. Anyone who has faced depression knows that hopelessness is a key component in that battle. Wounds of the past can cast such shadows on our path, that it can be hard to imagine and hope for better experiences in life.
Yet I after walking with God out of depression and through years of emotional healing, I can say with certainty that He is an eternal spring of hope for the hopeless. During times when the Master Surgeon has worked upon my heart, I have faced low moments where hope seemed hard to find. Yet the Holy Spirit has always been faithful to bring to mind words of life He had spoken through dear brothers and sister in Christ. Those words acted as a mirror meant to remind me of who I am in Christ at just the right moment. God would take those simple words of truth and increase them exponentially. Suddenly, the barren landscape of my heart would be flooded with His love and everlasting life.
Beloved of God, refuse to underestimate the power of the words that God releases through you to others! Speaking words of encouragement to people may seem insignificant when compared to the trials and circumstances they are facing. I know all too well how powerless I have felt in such moments, even though God was the one prompting me to release His words.
However, the Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 3:7 that it is God who gives the increase from our spiritual work. Faithfully speak what Holy Spirit gives you, and watch how God moves. You can trust that, in due time, hope will spring up in the barren places through the words of life you release.
Romans 5:5 (NKJV) Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
1 Corinthians 3:7 (NKJV) So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.