Within Yellowstone National Park’s 3,472 square miles (8,987 square kilometers) are more than 10,000 geysers and hot springs. That is 62% of the earth’s total! The geysers of Yellowstone spew forth an incredible volume of water – 75 million gallons of water – every day! Where does all this water come from? From rain and snow that falls within the park and from beyond. The fallen rain and snows percolate down through the ground into the geothermal network. This network feeds the super-heated water up into the geysers.
But this “trickling down” of water takes quite a long time – even centuries. In fact, the water that erupts out of the Old Faithful geyser today is from water that fell to the earth about 500 years ago!
This amazing “hydrological cycle” has a spiritual parallel. Water falls to the earth in rain and snow, and seems to be forgotten as it sinks into the ground. The water reappears in a mighty eruption centuries later. So are the prayers that we pray, the seed of the gospel that we sow, and good deeds that we pour forth. We may go to our graves wondering if we “watered the earth” in vain. We may feel as though we’ve poured out our lives only to be forgotten. But nothing done for the Lord is ever in vain. Our prayers are registered in heaven and are never forgotten.
The history of the church abounds with stories of mighty moves of God fueled by a praying church centuries before. The same is true for the missionary who has poured out his life, sowing the seed of the gospel, without ever witnessing the fruit of his labor. Yet decades later this holy seed suddenly bursts forth in a mighty revival. The Apostle Paul assures us that nothing we do for the sake of the Kingdom of God is ever in vain and that, if we do not lose heart, we shall eventually reap a harvest (1 Corinthians 15:58; Galatians 6:9). Perhaps we may not see it in this life – but we will surely see it in the life to come.
PRAYER:
Dear Father in heaven, help me to walk by faith and not by sight. Help me to faithfully invest my time and energy into that great cause that will count for all eternity – the cause of Your kingdom. Amen.
