Thoughts on a Spring

By Qingxing

When I was a child, my father was assigned to farm the land in a mountainous area, and thereafter our family also moved there with him. When I looked out, I could see that rolling mountains with thick vegetation, like soldiers in campaign gowns, stood erect majestically. A narrow pass winded among the mountains and, viewed in the distance, it was like a green waistband. On the half way up the mountains, there was a spring whose mouth was as big as a tub’s, with gullies on either side. Adults usually went there to draw one bucket of water after another from the spring.

After the adults left the spring, my friends and I would gather around the mouth of the spring and looked downward, seeing that the water was not as much as before. But as we observed closely, we found the water level was slowly rising upward along the wall to the mouth of the spring until it stopped at the rim of the mouth, without overflowing outward. I was amazed by the scene before my eyes, thinking: Small as this natural spring is, it is enough to feed all people in our village. How does this small spring flow out so much water? Where on earth does it flow from? Can it be that it emerges from underground? It seems not. Because the water is below the ground, it can’t naturally flow upward. I was full of curiosity about the spring.

After returning home, I asked my mom with puzzlement, tilting my head to one side, “Mom, why can the spring slowly fill itself and never overflow after we draw water every time? Where does the water flow from?” I scratched my head and waited for my mom’s answer patiently. Mom touched my head and said, “The water flows from a place far, far away from us.” Hearing my mom’s answer, I blinked and nodded my head, only half understandingly. Still, I felt confused in my heart: Why does it neither freeze up in so chilly winters nor dry up in so scorching summer days? These questions left me quite at a loss.

Looking at the spring flowing unceasingly, I thought of how the fast-running rivers keep flowing toward where they are going day after day. But where do they reach in the end? In classes, teachers told us that these rivers and lakes all flow into the sea. I thought: If so much river water flows into the sea, won’t the water in the sea become more and more? And where does the sea water flow? Can the sea fill itself up and naturally stop overflowing, the same as the miraculous spring? More and more questions I had in my mind.

Several years later, I left the miraculous and beautiful place with my family. But wherever I lived, I could hardly forget that pure spring in my memory. Every time I recalled it, I would be rather perplexed. However, the more I thought it over, the more I felt it was a puzzle that could never be solved. It was not until later on when I read several passages of words in a book, that I found the answer I had expected for a long time.

They went like this, “Ever since God created all things, they have been functioning and continuing to progress in an orderly way and in accordance with the laws that He prescribed. Under His gaze, under His rule, mankind has survived, and all the while all things have been developing in an orderly way. There is nothing that can change or destroy these laws” (“God Himself, the Unique IX”). “Although the flows of waters such as rivers and lakes are all orderly and continuous, they will never move outside of their range or beyond their boundaries. They all flow in one direction, the direction in which they are supposed to flow, in an orderly way. So under the laws of God’s rule, no river or lake will dry up arbitrarily or arbitrarily change the direction or quantity of its flow due to the rotation of the earth or the passing of time. All this is within God’s control. That is to say, all things created by God in the midst of this mankind have their set places, areas, and limits. That is, when God created all things, their boundaries were established, and they cannot be arbitrarily altered, renewed, or changed. What does ‘arbitrarily’ mean? It means that they will not randomly shift, expand, or change their original form due to the weather, temperature, or the rotational speed of the earth” (“God Himself, the Unique IX”).

Only then did I realize that the laws of all things are presided over and arranged by God. God created all things and then rules over and controls them, and also sets for them laws and scopes to exist. For example: How large are the areas of rivers and lakes? In what direction and at what speed do they flow? God has made meticulous plans for them and determined their boundaries which none can change. I then remembered the spring and came to know that God has set its scope, location and volume of water. For this reason, the spring flows according to the laws set by God, and without God’s permission it cannot exceed its own scope, nor change its speed of flow or volume of water. Rather, it will keep in its original state as a supply for people’s drinking or use. Likewise, those turbulent sea and fast-running rivers are still controlled in the hands of God and the direction in which they flow, their volume of water or their scope of flow are all within the boundaries set by God.

For the big and small rivers and streams on the earth, the direction they flow in, their volume of water, their speed of flow and source perhaps are simple laws of nature in man’s eyes, but little do we know that all of these are based on God’s precise planning and His predestination and rule. Even though we may not think more about such questions, much less explore any of them, yet the laws of all things certify that there really exists a powerful Creator controlling these all. It is the true embodiment of unique authority and power of God. At that time, I couldn’t help but grasp in admiration at the Creator’s almightiness and wisdom and His wonderful deeds as well.

Later, I also saw it said in this book, “Because God knows for what reason each of the things of creation exists for the sake of mankind, what the role is of every type of thing that He created, what kind of impact each thing has on mankind, and to what degree it benefits mankind, because in God’s heart there is a plan for all of this and He manages every single aspect of all the things that He created, that is why every single thing that He does is so important and necessary for mankind” (“God Himself, the Unique IX”). “People have enjoyed this orderly environment for survival as well as all of the many things created by God for generation after generation. Even though people feel that these types of laws are innate and contemptuously take them for granted, and even though they cannot feel that God is orchestrating these laws, that God is ruling over these laws, no matter what, God is always engaged in this unchanging work. His purpose in this unchanging work is the survival of mankind, and so that mankind may live on” (“God Himself, the Unique IX”).

It turns out that the various laws God sets for all things are prepared for us to live better on earth. This made me see God’s love, protection, care and worries for us, and that God puts a lot of His thoughts into our existence. Take the spring as an example. For some people it is probably insignificant, but for those who live in the mountains, it is the spring that nurtures generation after generation, making them healthily live there. Similarly, the rivers and lakes also have their own value: Because of their existence, we keep away from the heat of the surface temperature on earth; because of their existence, all kinds of creatures in water can survive; because of their existence, people can feed on living creatures in water and have their farmlands irrigated. … Water is essential for us mankind and we cannot survive without it. All of this is God’s deeds.

This also reminds me of how God has prepared so many necessary conditions for us to live on safely, such as the sunlight, air, mountains, lakes and all kinds of animals and plants. God is so considerate of us that as long as we obey God’s sovereignty and live in the natural environment He has prepared for us, we will avoid suffering from lots of illness. All of this proves the Creator’s marvelousness and wisdom; and moreover, it allows me to see that behind all things is hidden God’s great love for us. No matter how God does, it is most beneficial for us and in order that we are able to live better.

God created all things and all things are showing forth the authority of God: In the quiet and beautiful mountains, trees still stand straightly on either side of the roads as usual; chirping birds sit on branches fluttering their wings and sing with their clear voice to praise God’s great power; butterflies flying from flower to flower flutter their pretty wings to praise God’s marvelousness; tiny grass swaying its tender body in the breeze also bears testament to the deeds of the Creator. As the creatures, we should also moreover worship and praise God.

All the glory be to the one true God who created all things!