What's Stopping the Flow?

This week my granddaughter, Bella, and I went out to check the small flowerbed in our backyard.  In the scorching July heat, the plants were beginning to shrivel and were badly in need of water.

I picked up the hose and just barely turned the water on so I could run it for a minute or two to release the water that the sun had been heating all day.  Then I pulled it across the lawn to the flowerbed.  I told Bella to turn the valve so I could have more water flow to give the flowers a good soaking.  Even though it appeared she was turning it in the right direction, I was only getting a dribble of water through the hose.  She tried turning it the opposite way.  Still, not enough water.

Finally, I walked back toward the side of the house to see if I could help her.  There I found an extreme kink in the hose.  It was folded back on itself, cutting off the water flow.  Once I corrected its position, the water flowed and lovely cool showers of water were able to soak my plants.

The Holy Spirit spoke a little word in my heart in that experience.  I'm going through a very stressful time right now, with a lot of uncertainty.  Sometimes my focus turns away from God and I begin to look back at myself, creating a spiritual "kink" that blocks the flow of the Spirit in my life.  While that blockage is there, it creates two problems.  One is that I can't be a conduit of refreshing to others in my life.  All of the things I'm called to do in this life get trapped in the place where I get stuck in my own situation.  The other issue is that I can't let the Holy Spirit work in me in the way that He wants.  I'm not open to the changes He has planned for me if I'm looking at my own problems instead of His solutions.

In the natural, I had to take the initiative to examine the situation, find the problem, and make the correction.  The spiritual requires the same.  I had to examine my life, realize what was stopping the flow in my life, and make the correction of turning my mind and heart toward what God was trying to do in the middle of the circumstances instead of just worrying and complaining about how difficult everything felt.

Where is the kink in your life? What is stopping the flow?  Find the problem and make a position correction in your spirit so the flow can begin again.  It's the key to all God wants to accomplish in and through your life.