This morning I came to the kitchen to make our coffee. The night before I had washed a large ice tea jar, which I left sitting in the sink. Sometimes our kitchen faucet drips just a little. The jar was empty when I went to bed. This morning the large jar was half full, which surprised me.

Sitting down to read my Bible, these words leaped out at me, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.” The jar immediately entered my mind. A small drip is hardly noticed in our lives, but when a jar is placed under the drip, eventually it fills up.

What drip in your life seems too small to change things right now? Is it a drip of faith? A drip of trust? A drip of love? Do you need a drip of healing? Perhaps a drip in your marriage? With your children? In your job?

I read a story in an old devotional called Springs in the Valley. A South American traveler told of a conflict he once witnessed between a little animal protecting its young and a large, poisonous snake. The battle was fierce. In the onset of the fight, the little animal received what appeared to be a fatal wound from the poisonous fangs, but the little animal rushed to the forest and ate the leaves of the plantain tree, then rushed back into the fray restored. Again the little animal was bitten, sickened, but ran back to the plantain tree for healing. Over and over this strange spectacle repeated. Though the serpent ferociously attacked, the little animal, wounded again and again, kept rushing into the forest to the tree of healing. Finally, the battle ended. The terrible snake lay dead and the little animal, in sweet victory, sat unharmed in the midst of her nest of helpless little ones. The story, presented by A. B. Simpson, goes on to say, “It is his wings that heal our pains, and soothe the serpent’s poisoned stings; Close to God’s bosom we must press to feel his healing wings.”

When the drips in your life seem small, never forget the jar.

For twenty years our family has been gathering shells when we visit the beach. Just a few shells or sand dollars for each of us every time. When I first started putting our shells in this big jar, I thought it would never fill up. Three of our children are grown now and our jar is almost full. The shells remind me of sweet memories and how faithful God has been to us.

Does your family have a shell jar? Or a faith jar? Or thanksgiving jar?

What jar do you need filled in your life right now? Praying you put your jar under streams of living water. Let the Lord Jesus fill you up.