Beneath Our Feet

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” — Romans 10:14 (NIV)

This week I listened to a conversation with Scott Harrison, founder of Charity: Water, whose mission is to bring clean, drinkable water to communities without access to it. He told a story from a village in Liberia, where women had spent their entire lives walking miles each day to gather water from a muddy, insect‑filled swamp. It was all they had. It was all they knew. 

When the drilling rig arrived, the whole community gathered. Dust rose. Children pressed in close. The team worked hour after hour, pushing deeper into the earth. Then, suddenly, water surged upward—clean, cold, abundant. Villagers danced; fathers swung children in jubilation. But one woman fell to her knees and wept. Not because the water was new, but because what she needed most had been beneath her feet all along, waiting to be revealed. Her tears were not only relief. They were recognition.

In today’s verse, Paul asks the poignant question, “How will they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” It’s a question that carries both urgency and tenderness. Paul isn’t scolding; he’s reminding us that people cannot respond to what they do not know. They cannot rejoice in grace they’ve never encountered. They cannot drink from a well they’ve never seen.

Evangelism is not about delivering something foreign. It’s about helping people discover the God who has already been present in their lives — beneath their feet, within their story, woven into their days. Like the drilling team in Liberia, we are invited to help reveal what God has already placed there: hope, mercy, belonging, love.

And when that living water rises — when someone realizes that God has been near all along — the celebration is just as real. Tears. Joy. Relief. A new beginning.

May we be people who help others hear, see, and discover the grace already waiting for them. May we be gentle guides to the wells God has placed beneath their feet.

God of living water, open our eyes to the grace already beneath our feet. Help us recognize Your presence woven into our days, and make us gentle guides who help others hear, see, and discover the hope, mercy, and love You’ve placed within their reach. For all who are thirsty today, let Your life‑giving water rise with joy, relief, and new beginnings. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Tim