We all, from time to time, enter into the place where we find ourselves spiritually tired and drained. The demands of living, paired with a waning prayer life, can produce a dryness of the soul. Sometimes we wander into dry places because we tend to neglect spiritual matters. You may find yourself in places that are dry, like the desert. In the spiritual desert, you become tired, frustrated, weak, and apathetic. Responsibilities and needs, like the intense heat from the beaming sun, drain you of vitality.
Life can sometimes be like a desert, but the Holy Spirit is always like a river.
On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me! Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from His heart.’” (When He said “living water,” He was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in Him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into His glory.) (John 7:37-39)
The presence of the Holy Spirit brings life. His nearness is refreshing and restores the vitality of your soul. Because the waters flow from your spirit within, you never have to worry about emptying your source.
The Holy Spirit is not only represented by refreshing rivers of living water; He is also represented by rain (side note: this is also why the cloud is a symbol of the Holy Spirit; the cloud brings the rain).
The prophet Joel prophesied the coming of rain. He was referring to natural rain, but he went on to prophesy that God would “pour out” His Spirit. The mentioning of the Spirit and rain together creates this clear symbolic parallel—the Holy Spirit is the rain of Heaven.
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.... And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My spirit (Joel 2:23,28-29 KJV).
Water cleanses, quenches, refreshes, and gives life. The Holy Spirit cleanses your soul, quenches your spiritual thirst, and refreshes your being.
Wherever the rivers and rain of the Holy Spirit touch, there is life.
Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:13-14).
Water represents the Holy Spirit’s ability to refresh us, quench our spiritual thirst, cleanse us, and bring forth life wherever He flows. He is the rain of Heaven, and He is the living river that flows from within. Water can be symbolic for the Holy Spirit.
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