Water Supply

Imagine a raging fire burning through a home. Consuming everything in its path. Igniting furniture and precious belongings. Fingers of flames licking across the ceiling, hot dark angry smoke billowing into a plume above the roof. When it is happening, it seems like an eternity before the fire department arrives. Even as the sirens grow closer from their whine in the distance, the fire rages and seems to double in size. As the fire engine pulls up, firefighters pour out, getting to work as the heat radiates from the glow of the flames starting to burn through the roof. Even with the large hoses, the fire seems too much to control. As the firefighters disappear into the door, unleashing smoke, a few moments later the smoke begins to lighten, and its anger seems to be tamed. But suddenly, the firefighters retreat out of the front door, and the smoke begins to build once again. Out of water.

Water is the best thing to extinguish a fire. There are some super nerdy reasons why it works: de-energizing the heat release rate, diluting combustible gases, and inhibiting the chemical reaction by placing a barrier to keep oxygen from reaching the fuel. Essentially, we all know water cools and extinguishes fire. However, if you have no water, the only other way a fire goes out is if it runs out of fuel or oxygen. This is the problem they are facing in Los Angeles right now—they are out of water. Fire engines only carry a limited amount of water in their tanks, usually around 750 gallons. This seems like a lot, but when a fire hose flows 150 gallons in a minute or the larger hoses 250 gallons per minute, there is only enough water to flow between 3–5 minutes before the water is gone. Typically, this amount is enough to stop the fire, but depending on the extent, more may need to be applied. So what is the answer? A continuous water supply.

Those red fire hydrants that line the street every 300 feet apart are the solution. They are connected to water mains that, in most cases, have an endless supply of water. The fire engines connect to the hydrants with a large-diameter hose. Once this is complete, firefighting can resume. As a priority, connections to a water supply are done as quickly as possible, as leaving firefighters in a burning building without water is extremely dangerous. The water from the hydrant flows into the engine, which flows into each of the hoselines firefighters use to not only extinguish the fire, but ensure it doesn’t reignite. 

We can look as this symbolically as it applies to our life and the daily challenges we face. The hydrant is like God and His love—steady and never-ending, flowing into us, but needing to be accessed.  The hydrant is there but unless we connect to it we only have a limited supply. The love and good we can flow is limited unless we have a source to refill us. The fire engines are our hearts: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). The house represents our challenges, jobs, family and relationships in life, while the fire symbolizes sin and temptation in the world. When we engage our relationships and challenges on our own we can make solid connections and we can face challenges for a while, as like a fire engine, that’s what we were created to do. However, once sin and temptation is ignited, it spreads rapidly. We can try to fight it back it on our own, but like the fire engine and its water tank, we can only do it for so long before we get overtaken by the fire. Ultimately causing us and our relationships to collapse, leaving them in ruin.

That’s why our hearts need to be connected to God and His endless supply of love, mercy and wisdom, so we can overcome our challenges and keep sin from overtaking us. “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Just as firefighters rely on the hydrant for a sustained water supply, we must rely on God for the strength to face life’s fires.

In moments of struggle and temptation, we must remember to turn to Him, tapping into that endless reservoir of grace and mercy. “The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing” (Psalm 23:1). When we seek Him first, we find the water our weary souls need to combat the flames of temptation and despair. He is our source of strength, our ultimate hydrant, ensuring that we never run dry in our battle against the challenges of life and can save what is most important to us in life.

So let us keep our hearts connected to God, drawing from His infinite supply. In doing so, we will not only extinguishing the fires around us but bring His love and faithfulness in to every aspect of our homes.