A “WELL OF HELL” OR AN OASIS IN THE DESERT? - The Warrior's Journey®
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A “WELL OF HELL” OR AN OASIS IN THE DESERT?

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After decades of speculation and centuries of fear, the Well of Barhout, AKA the “Well of Hell,” was finally explored this past September 2021. This well is actually an enormous sink hole in Eastern Yemen. It’s located in one of the starkest and most desolate deserts on the planet. Nothing grows or lives in this scorched wasteland.

Yet, as barren as this desert appears, the gaping hole of “Hell’s Well” only makes it look more foreboding. For centuries locales have identified the “well” as the mouth of hell and a prison for genies (i.e. the Jinn) and demons. Consequently, the site was avoided and remained unexplored.

All that changed on September 15, 2021, when the Omani Caves Exploration Team (OCET) descended into and explored the sink hole. Here’s what they found. The hole is 367 feet deep. Two thirds of the way down, waterfalls emerge from the sides of the cave and plunge to the bottom. At the bottom are various cave formations, such as stalagmites and cave pearls. And there’s plenty of life at the bottom – plants, moss, bugs, reptiles, and birds. Far from any conception of hell, the bottom of this giant sinkhole bears a closer resemblance to paradise. It’s truly a pleasant oasis in a God-forsaken desert.

You know, some phases of life are like the scorching desert of Eastern Yemen, where it’s impossible to sustain life. They are spiritual wastelands devoid of all encouragement, affirmation, and love. These stretches of our journey only deplete us of our joy and contribute nothing to our faith. They are simply so hostile to our spiritual life that we despair of ever surviving them.

Yet we have Jesus’ promise that He will give us “a well of living water, springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). This living water is the gift of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus gives to all who believe in Him and receive Him (John 7:37-39). Why then do so many Christian believers crawl along like a person perishing from thirst?

Well, it’s because the living water doesn’t always appear on the surface. We must dig deeper into God, descend deeper into God to find the sustaining and life-giving water of the Holy Spirit. Every time we approach God in prayer, search His word, and exercise faith in Him, we are descending to that place where there’s refreshing and life-giving water.

The problem is that, because of our fallen nature and Satan’s lies, drawing closer to God is counterintuitive to us. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, we’ve been plagued by an unnatural fear of God (Genesis 3:8-10). We’re afraid to draw close to God, just as Bedouins were afraid of the Well of Barhout. They avoided it and associated it with evil and harm. But the truth was that in its depths was an oasis, a paradise with cascading waterfalls.

Even Christian believers often live with an unhealthy fear of God. They’re afraid God wants to take away the things they treasure or ask them to do something they dread. But the very opposite is true. God is a giving God and He created us with a God-shaped hole in our hearts that only He can fill. He yearns for our love so He can pour out His own upon us. And if we’d only learn to descend into the depths of God’s presence and love, we’d find the key to surviving and thriving in the most inhospitable circumstances. We find our ever-present oasis in the depths of God.

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,   whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

 

PRAYER:  Dear Father in heaven, please teach me to flee into Your divine embrace where there is healing, peace, and love. Help me to dig deeper into Your holy word and feed upon its promises. Help me to drink more and more of Your Holy Spirit. Help me to find that secret place in You, the place for which I was created. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

(Information from: https://www.livescience.com/well-of-hell-sinkhole-yemen-descent; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_of_Barhout)


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