When someone is digging a deep well, many times he will discover that the earth is of many layers. One layer is of soft dirt, the next layer is of hard dirt, and another layer is of stone. It is difficult to dig through a layer of stone. This illustrates the many layers in us through which we need to dig. One layer is the conscience, another layer is the heart, and now a third layer is our mind, which holds much dirt. We do not know how many imaginations we have day by day. We not only dream during the night while we are asleep, but we also dream during the day while we are awake. All our imaginations are different dreams. We have already spoken of Satan blinding our minds; he does this simply through our imaginations. Sometimes while you are listening to a message, your mind travels to the moon. Outwardly you nod your head, but inwardly your mind imagines something in space. During the message you hear the voice, but you do not receive anything. Your mind has been blinded by imaginations.
Many times people travel completely around the world in their imaginations. Within seconds they travel through the whole world. They can go to the Far East faster than the best jet. How many imaginations are in the mind! When there is a great deal of dirt in our mind, how can the flow of living water within us be free? Since our mind has been blocked, the living water also has been blocked in our mind. The heaps of dirt in our mind are simply the many thoughts, imaginations, and dreams, which must be dug away before the living water can freely flow.
The will also contains much dirt. There are not many who are absolutely and utterly obedient to the Lord. We need to be more submissive in our will. How many times we do not submit ourselves to the Lord’s sovereign arrangement! Sometimes we think we are quite submissive to the Lord, but when He puts us into certain circumstances, we are exposed. It is easy to submit to the invisible Lord, but it is rather difficult to submit to visible persons. You may say, “I am submissive to the Lord. With the Lord I have no problem. But...” Yes, there is a big but! Before the Lord you may have no problem, but concerning the saints in the church, you may not be able to submit to them. The Lord especially put you into your local church in order to break your will.
As a sister you may think, “If my husband could be such a dear brother, I would gladly submit to him.” How many times the sisters have had this thought. But the fact is that your husband cannot be that kind of person. The Lord gave you such a suitable husband; he is just the husband you need. If you could have the husband of your dreams, you would never be exposed. Many experiences and circumstances under the Lord’s sovereignty simply expose us to the light so that we may know how stubborn our will is. We may point out a certain brother who is stubborn, but every one of us is stubborn. We may be the most stubborn brother or sister. Every one of us must dig his will. How easy it is to obtain more and more spiritual knowledge while we remain unchanged in our life, our nature, and our disposition. This is a situation of utter failure! If the living water is to flow in us, we must be dug. The flowing is the Lord’s business, but the digging is our business. We need to dig ourselves.
After digging away the dirt from our will, we need to deal with our emotion. I do not know how to illustrate how troublesome our emotion is. This trouble exists not only with the sisters but also with the brothers. When we are emotional, we are occupied with ourselves. We are under the control and bondage of our emotions. If we would spend some time with the Lord and open ourselves, we must begin by digging our conscience, then our heart, then our mind, and then our will. Finally, we will come to the point where we see how much we are still in our emotions. It is very easy for us to like one thing and dislike another. It is very easy for us to make friends with a brother but treat him like an enemy the next morning. It is not easy to change our will, but it is easy to have many changes in our emotions. Our emotions fluctuate even more than the weather.
My deep concern is not merely to give a message but to afford you a little instruction so that you will go to the Lord. Forget about your needs, your job, your future, and your circumstances. Seek only the Lord’s presence, and ask Him to bring you into His light. Then follow His light to dig away the dirt in your conscience, heart, mind, will, and emotion. The more you dig away the dirt, the more you will be alive. You will be living, you will be strengthened, and you will be victorious. This is the key to solve your many problems. You must maintain the flow of living water, that is, the fellowship of life flowing freely within you. When the living water flows freely within you, there is victory. By such a flow all the problems will be solved spontaneously and even unconsciously. Although you may not know how to solve them, they will be solved by the flowing of the living water, the fellowship of life. This flowing of the living water is entirely dependent upon your digging.
This digging is accomplished only by prayer. We need to spend more and more time with the Lord and pray according to His inner leading. According to that leading, we must confess and dig away all the dirt within us. I believe that these instructions are clear; now we need to practice them. Sometimes we need to pray with others, but the digging prayer is more prevailing in privacy. It is extremely necessary to spend more private time with the Lord. All the dirt within our conscience, heart, mind, will, and emotion must be dug away by our prayer. You may say, “I am very busy.” But although we are busy with the duties of the day, we can still touch the Lord and dig away the dirt. Many times while I am working, I apply myself to the exercise of digging. We should learn to pray, to contact the Lord, and to dig away all the inward dirt.
Spring up, well, with water;
Dig Thou, Lord, completely;
Dig away all barriers
That Thy stream flow through me.
Christ, the Rock, is riven;
Living water’s flowing;
But within my heart now
It is blocked from going.
I will dig by praying,
Dig the dirt entirely,
Thus release the Spirit,
Let the stream flow freely.
There’s no need again that
Christ, the Rock, be riven,
But unto the digging
That I should be given.
What I need most deeply
Is the Spirit’s filling,
That the living water
From my heart be welling.
Dig till there is nothing
Left to block the passage;
Dig until the stream flows
With the living message.
Spring up, well, with water;
Dig Thou, Lord, completely;
Dig away all barriers
That Thy stream flow through me.
Hymns, #250