When it's man versus lots of water, you know the water's often going to win. Oh, we've built dams and levees and water management systems. But sometimes - like now along the Mississippi - there's just too much water.
Of course, it's hard to see them having to dynamite holes in a dam, knowing they're saving a town but inundating thousands of acres of farmland. There goes a crop. There goes a harvest. There goes a family's income. Downriver, they've just opened the gates on a dam, knowing the resulting flood may save a city but drown a town.
There is some good news. In many places, the dams and levees are holding back the flood.
If it weren't for those walls, the flood would wash away everything in its path.
Watching this month's high-water drama unfold has given new meaning to a personal testimony I've shared with some people close to me. I've told them that my time with Jesus is literally the dam that holds back the dark side of me. The sinful dark side we all have.
The Bible says, "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You" (Psalm 119:11). God's Word - what stands between me and the flood. I really can't afford to miss a day where I spend time with Jesus in His Book. Not because of some Christian duty or because I'm afraid I'll get a flat tire or a sprained ankle if I don't. But because I really, really love Him. And I really, really need Him.
We all know about the war. "The sinful nature wants to do evil...the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other" (Galatians 5:17 - NLB). The difference is the sin-disarming power of the Word of God. "Now you are clean through the Word I have spoken to you" (John 15:3).
I'm like that concert violinist who said, "If I miss a day of practice, I notice. If I miss two days, my friends notice. If I miss three days, the whole world notices." I can tell the days when I've been "too busy" to start my day in His Word. The dam starts to leak. And the parts of me that God and I both hate start to slowly take over again.
My time with Jesus in His Word cannot be optional. It must be non-negotiable. Because a hole in the dam can do so much damage.