Living Water by Amy Nehrig

Image: Roy Harley

Last year we were headed out surfing at El Zonte down in El Salvador. We always tell the kids to watch the surf for a while at a new spot, but everyone was frothing. The older kids and David took off for K59 and the littles and I watched the surf out front for a bit. The heat was almost unbearable and everyone just wanted to get wet. Our kids have been surfing since before they could walk, so we often give them more credit than we should in their abilities. After about an hour, I looked over and saw a local friend of ours sprinting down the beach fully clothed as he jumped in the water. My first thought was, “Wow! Jorge was so hot he didn’t even take his shoes off, that’s weird.” All of a sudden, a few more of his friends were running down too. What I didn’t know, was that Tanner was headed into dangerous waters. The current had slowly taken him and he was drifting into danger. There were some super sketchy rocks and crevices that have pulled kids under before and taken lives. Living there all his life, Jorge knew just where Tanner was headed and saved his life.

The experience reminded me of how important it is to surround yourself with others that have walked with Jesus before you. You might think you are doing fine and don’t even realize how quickly you are drifting away from Jesus. There might be hurdles or other dangers that you don’t even realize are there, but you have to trust those that have walked the journey before. God puts people in our lives to build us up, encourage us, and correct us. But we have to be open to these voices. We can’t pretend like we can do this Christian faith alone. 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”

Don’t wait until you are having to be pulled from the rocks. Find people around you that can speak truth into your life and be willing to listen to it. The Christian Faith is not meant to be a solo journey. Find your tribe of people and lift each other up!