Wells of healing water
One evening at a church service, when people were telling how God had healed them, I felt a wonderful affirmation of God’s universal, unconditional love for us all. It became clear that everyone was loved by God, and that each of us deserved to be healed. Healing wasn’t something we had to earn, or something that was for some people and not for others, or even that healing was something that we had to do. The message was a certainty that God healed, and that such healing was all about God’s love for everyone.
The Bible assures us that God is Love, and that God’s love is always present, wherever we are (see I John 4:8 , Psalms 139:7 ). As God’s loved sons and daughters, we cannot be separated from that love. That’s a fact, even if we may not feel it at a particular time. It’s right there, expressed perhaps as a feeling of comfort, a sense of safety or peace, or the practical meeting of a need.
Among my favorite Bible stories is one that helpfully illustrates the fact of God’s ongoing and unconditional love. It’s about Hagar and her son, who were sent off into the wilderness with only some bread and a bottle of water. When they had drunk the water, Hagar wept bitterly, fearing that without more water her son would die. But God called out to her, telling her not to be afraid. Then He showed her a well of water, apparently right there where she was, and both Hagar and her son were saved (see Genesis 21:9–20 ).
It is natural for God, Love, to care for His creation.
Several things are instructive in this account. God called out to Hagar in her desperation as if to say: “Don’t cry. You are both safe because I am here, taking care of you. All good is already here.” Because of her despair and fear, Hagar hadn’t seen the well of water that was right there. God was showing her that because of His presence, all goodness was present. Water is what they needed at that moment, and water was there to meet that need; the provision was a perfect match for the need.
Also, the fact that Hagar and her son were driven out, in part because of their lower status in Abraham’s household, was of no consequence. God took care of them, showing that each was worthy of His love. Each had a place and a purpose. (The son, Ishmael, later became the father of the Ishmaelites, a nomadic nation that lived in northern Arabia.)
Another story about a well comes from the biography Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer, Amplified Edition, by Yvonne Caché von Fettweis and Robert Townsend Warneck. One day the farmer who delivered milk to Mrs. Eddy’s home, Pleasant View, reported that since they’d had no rain for about a month, his well was empty. When told about this, Mrs. Eddy said, “Oh! if he only knew, Love fills that well.” The next day when the farmer came, he told the cook that his well was full of water. He was amazed because there had been no rain to fill it (p. 177).
Mrs. Eddy knew that it is natural for God, Love, to care for His creation. So she was confident that all the wells of need are already filled. She saw this as a natural activity of God loving us, and not as something miraculous. This act of knowing counteracted what seemed to be a law of nature, confirming that God is not limited by our sense of how things work.
Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “God never ordained a material law to annul the spiritual law. If there were such a material law, it would oppose the supremacy of Spirit, God, and impugn the wisdom of the creator. Jesus walked on the waves, fed the multitude, healed the sick, and raised the dead in direct opposition to material laws. His acts were the demonstration of Science, overcoming the false claims of material sense or law” (p. 273 ).
God’s love universally and unconditionally embraces humanity right where we are. Our wells are already filled. Trusting this fact enables us to see what we need to see. The goodness represented by God’s love is evidenced in the practical resolution of all our needs.
