I am captivated by waterfalls, and am also interested in exploring and sharing spiritual truths in different ways. Might it be possible to bring these together and use the characteristics of waterfalls to illustrate God’s nature? This would be very similar to Romans 1:20a. Could this even be a way for God to speak forth? This would be similar to the last post — if music and instruments can be used to prophecy, perhaps so can such a beautiful part of God’s creation. After all, this is something we should all seek to do.

As I’ve pondered this over time, there seem to be many possibilities. But it would be all too easy to go down this path in a sterile manner, mechanistically linking physical properties with scripture, making metaphors that are intellectually satisfying but don’t speak to the heart. The only way I know to avoid this is through prayer…

One of the nearby places to enjoy waterfalls is the Columbia River Gorge. A small but nice one is Horsetail Falls, near the eastern connection of the old road with I-84. My wife and I were visiting it a while ago, and I walked around reflecting on the beauty of the place, contemplating the many ways it could be used to speak of God. While standing there, resting in the beauty and peace of the spot, I wondered to the Lord if it would really work to make such connections, if waterfalls could really be a good vehicle for speaking forth truths about Him. In one of those moments of unexpected clarity, the thought came to mind: “Why do you think I made them?”

Of course.

So this is something I will be pondering, refining my photography, seeking to please Him, to know Him better, and to make Him known.

Thinking about waterfalls, and so thinking about water, one of passages that most often comes to mind is when Jesus is speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well.

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13–14

What does “refreshing” mean to you?

Several thousand years ago, a young spiritual teacher rested at an ancient well in the heat of the day. As a woman came up to draw water, he spoke to her about spiritual things in her life. She was seeking refreshment from the well water, but he pointed her to something more profound — her need for a deeper and longer-lasting kind of refreshment. Of course she wanted it. Who wouldn’t? But is such a thing possible?

Yes, for he could offer it to her because he wasn’t an ordinary spiritual teacher. This man was the incarnation of deity, and had come to free people from longing thirsts such she had experienced all her life. She had tried to quench it through multiple relationships, but never successfully. He offered what no one else could — true refreshment for her spirit, not her stomach. He was on his way to accomplish something that would change the world, and would provide that refreshment to anyone who wanted it. Whatever thirst you have can be fully quenched only by what he did, and drinking of it will give you your heart’s deepest desires.

What do you thirst for? Where do you seek life’s gratifications? Find it in Jesus, the source of all that we need, of all that we truly desire. The world will fill us with desires that accomplish the world’s purposes, but He will fill us with desires that accomplish what we were created for. Nothing else truly satisfies.

Don’t know where this will go, but we’ll see. A piece of this is to learn how to make creative pictures of waterfalls. You can see some examples here.