Dig Deeper Wells
A hand-dug well
In 2007, God provided the resources for us to purchase a two-acre property near the largest government housing projects in São Paulo, Brazil. Our first order of business was to establish utility services. We were all set with the electrical hookups in a few days but ran into a water problem. The city water utility office told us our property had no access point. This news was a surprise since over a million people lived within a three-mile radius.
Nonetheless, we had to do something. Digging a well was the only solution. I hired a well-digger, and the work began. After five days of work, three men dug a hole four feet in diameter and sixty feet deep. They hit bedrock and couldn’t go any deeper by hand. They dropped concrete rings (tile) into the hole for retention, and after a few days, we had around 30 feet of water. That was it. We had water. Our problem was solved. A few months later, we experienced a two-month drought, and the water level dropped to only five feet. We needed the water for construction and general use, but we had none available. The well was not deep enough, and our work stopped.
I had only been in Brazil for a few years, and I was still riding on the high wave of several wins. We planted two churches, purchased properties, and built buildings in a few short years. Many people had come to faith in Christ in ways that were simply miraculous. What I didn’t know then but that I know now, looking back, was that my spiritual well was shallow. This became evident in the wake of the Great Recession of 2009. We lost a significant amount of financial support, and the value of the U.S. Dollar plummeted. As a family, we had to quickly find affordable housing and sell our vehicles to pay our bills. We had two kids with a third on the way. Suddenly, life became difficult. But, the ministry was still moving fast. We had new leaders, new projects, and ambitious plans. I was making things happen but drawing from my own resources. The well was dry, and the work was about to stop.
Here’s what I mean. I reached a place where I was a mile wide and a foot deep. A place where the value of my performance became greater than the quality of my character. A place where the pace of doing for Jesus outstripped the reality of me being with Jesus. A place where striving became central and abiding became peripheral. I had it all backward, and I knew it.
It took two years, but by God’s grace, I was able to slow down and create a healthy and sustainable rhythm of life that allowed me to dig a deeper well. Here are a few things I learned in the process:
1. Your greatest strength can be your greatest weakness.
Over the years, I’ve read scores of books on every subject related to church planting, leadership development, organizational culture, and strategy. I’ve earned certifications and advanced degrees in these fields. I have a natural inclination to be productive and get things done. I value the efficient and the effective. Some would say these are great strengths, but they are my greatest weakness. If I am not careful, they push me wide when I should go deep.
What to do:
Never stop growing in your self-awareness. Over the years, you will have to contend with many versions of yourself. I am a different person than I was in 2009, but I still have to contend with myself.
“Abiding in Christ means allowing His Word to fill our minds, direct our wills, and transform our affections.”
2. Your greatest ambition can perfectly reflect your greatest idol.
What am I pursuing? Why am I pursuing it? Who am I trying to please? What false projection of myself am I trying to maintain? All these questions and more will surface when you start challenging the assumptions behind what drives your ambition. There is no way you can ask and answer these questions alone. You have to invite someone from the outside into the conversation. For me, a friend helped me more fully understand and live out an abiding life in Christ.
What to do:
When trying to discern the source of your motivations, you will always fall prey to self-deception. Invite someone to speak the truth in love into your life through God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
3. Your greatest potential can only be achieved by abiding in Christ.
Potential. Achieve. Abide. Those words don’t seem to go together, and they don’t. We just mentioned motivation, and if our motivation to “abide” was driven by our desire to “achieve,” that would reveal something truly sinful in us. Yet, the call to follow Jesus is a call to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. Abiding is “being with”; only in “being with” Jesus can we ever become like Jesus. Becoming like Jesus is the realization of my greatest potential. Jesus living through me is the greatest achievement of that potential.
What to do:
Grow in your understanding and application of what it means to abide in Christ. This is a multi-faceted concept, but it must be distilled into a habit. Your stage and season of life may require a unique approach. Connect with an experienced Global Worker to help you develop a rhythm of spiritual disciplines that will help you abide in Christ.
