Feeling Drained

My water had 'hardened'. It looked clean and clear - but over the years it had gotten overloaded with chemicals. Week after week, chlorine, algaecide, clarifiers, oils from sun screen - Stuff. It just couldn't take it any more. Water, H2O, would evaporate every day. I'd refill the pool with fresh water, it would rain, but the chemicals lingered. Invisible, but there. Some things, just never go away. I could pour new chlorine in by the bucket fulls with no effect. The chemicals were dead before they even hit the water. The pool was saturated and couldn't take any more. I was wasting money, time and energy. And worst of all - I could no longer feel comfortable swimming in my own pool.

So I drained it dry. Last week I rented a submersible pump from Home Depot and sucked every last drop of water out of my pool. Now this may sound easy and it is, but what makes it tricky is the damage it can do. There was the possibility that the pool walls would cave in without the support and weight of the water. And there was the possibility that the pool would actually 'rise up' - lift out of the ground like a boat without the water inside to keep it down. Everyone I talked to had a different piece of advice - mostly: 'don't do it', and 'you're crazy'. But I had to take the gamble.

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It took 4-5 hours to pump it dry. Then I scrubbed the walls (a pebble tech finish). Then I patched some cracking along the top. It took a long time and a lot of energy. I stuck a hose in and starting filling the pool with brand new, fresh, sparkling water. It took 24 hours to refill it. (and now I'm dreading the city water bill!)

But I had to do it. It needed to be refreshed - it needed new life. The source of life in my pool had died a slow death and it was rendered useless to me - unless I did something fast.

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We're not much different - over the years we become so intoxicated with bad chemicals (poisons, attitudes, hatred, worldly ideas, contempt, lethargy, complacency) that seep in slowly. We don't even know it's happening - and we wake up one day so 'hardened' that we are a problem - we are the problem. We are no longer receptive to things like peace and happiness and joy. We don't slow down to watch a sunset or listen to the birds in the morning, or appreciate the architecture of a simple flower. We're hard on people. Our attitudes are bad and it shows.

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We have to surrender and give it all up.

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Maybe you're feeling drained. Maybe it's time to GET DRAINED. Get poured-out. Empty yourself. Surrender. Get clean. Even believers need to be refreshed with living water. The great news is that it doesn't take hours or days to do it. It can happen in a moment. Then - be careful what you put in it, don't dump it all in, be selective with what you allow into your 'pool'. Skim daily.

Jesus said "I will give you water …… and you'll never thirst again". Cool stuff. And in Ephesians Paul says to 'be careful how you live - don't live like fools, but like those who are wise'.