Drop by Drop

RECENTLY OUR FAMILY was enjoying a beautiful summer evening high in the mountains. Just as the sun was setting, it began to sprinkle and then to pour. It rained and rained, and we gave thanks to heaven for the abundance we received.

Earlier that day, I’d been out looking at a tree which was alive and well, standing tall and firm. There were no other trees of its type, shape, or size nearby, but somehow this tree was flourishing. As I looked closer, I noticed that there was a small sprinkler head positioned at the foot of the tree. I hadn’t seen the sprinkler before, but I observed that it was doing exactly what it was intended to do: keep the tree alive. Every few seconds, a single drop of water emerged and gently fell downward, providing the needed water to this mighty tree.

Revelation, or inspiration from God, often occurs in a similar manner. Occasionally, we may be the beneficiary of a much-needed summer thunderstorm of inspiration. But more often, inspiration from heaven comes drop by drop, “line upon line, precept upon precept.”1 Our work then becomes to collect the drops. As we apply effort to look for and capture each drop of heaven-sent communication, our drops add up to become a deep well of sustaining spiritual water.

My nine-year-old daughter, after reading about the visions of a scriptural prophet, recently asked, “Dad, why doesn’t God give me visions?” I paused, and then it hit me, so I answered, “He does! He gives you your needed spiritual vision as you read and ponder the scriptures; as you pray, listen, and then act; and as you strive to serve and love others.

Just as single, recurring drops of water were enough to cause the large tree to flourish, so too can the regular drops of spiritual inspiration we receive combine to fulfill the word of the Lord when He said, “[I] shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, ... and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”2

We are known by God. We are His children. We can approach Him in prayer knowing that He will answer with His heavenly water—sometimes with cloudbursts of inspiration but usually gently, drop by drop.