The Wow! (Part 2): The Bucket Theory
One afternoon as the kids played in the summer sun, the Lord painted for me a poignant picture of a wonder-filled life (John 10:10). My swimsuit clad little ones were pretending to be gardeners. With wide grins, they lugged bright plastic buckets filled with water from the inflatable pool on the patio to a small patch of flowers in the corner of our fenced backyard.
Luke and Lizzy both had the same sized buckets filled to the brim when they began their trek across the yard. But when Luke reached the corner of the yard and tipped his bucket, only a small stream of pool water trickled out. Lizzy, on the other hand, showered (or should I say nearly drowned) the cheery daisies with a torrential splash each time she emptied her bucket.
Luke was too busy bustling between the pool and the flower bed to notice that his water-hauler was defunct. Finally, I stopped my industrious son and asked to see his bucket. A quick inspection revealed three small holes about the size of a pencil poke on the bottom of my son’s blue pail. After pointing out the punctures, I asked Luke if he’d like to help me fix the problem. Together, we patched up the bottom of the broken bucket with some gray slabs of duct tape. The next time my firstborn hauled water from one side of the yard to the other, the contents of the bucket didn’t slip out before Luke reached the flower bed.
That evening, when Lizzy, wowed over a hot dog at supper time, I thought about those plastic buckets. And I pondered the implications for a wonder-seeker like me. Both buckets had been created with the same capacity to hold water, but the punctures in my son’s container had made it difficult to hold onto the water for long. As I thought about Christ’s promise of life overflowing (John 4:10), I wondered if the difference between this wonder–lacking mommy and her awe-struck little girl had to do less with capacity and more with holes
The awestruck King David spoke of a cup that overflowed. The wonder-filled widow drew strength from an oil jar that never grew empty. The woman at the well marveled at Christ’s offer of water that never runs dry. Surely these pictures of abundant life are meant to give hope to empty women like me. I want to live like that– overflowing with joy, awed by God’s gifts, spilling over in worship–but more often than not, I feel like my son’s broken bucket– with drips and drops of awe slowly seeping through the chaos of my days.
After that day in the yard with the broken bucket, I begged God to pour more wonder into my life. I figured if He would just give me a few more wows, my heart would begin to resemble my two– year–old’s. “You don’t need more wonder,” God tenderly whispered to my wonder–less soul. You need to fix your holes.”
When I invited Jesus to take up residence in my heart, I invited an endless supply of wonder to move into my life–– the Spring of Living Water, to be exact. But even an overflowing fountain doesn’t fill broken buckets to the brim. If I want a heart brimming with wonder, I need to recognize that which drains my awe. And then patch my holes with some holy duct tape of truth!
If you’ve ever felt drained of wonder, maybe you could use a little duct tape, too. Come back tomorrow and I’ll share some of mine!
The Overflow: “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” -Jeremiah 2:13
