The Brook – a story by Carol Warren
Once upon a time there was a little brook. It was a very pleasant brook that wound its way through the countryside right by the king’s palace. The king himself enjoyed the little brook. He would often look at it from his balcony or take a walk by the brook to get away from the pressures of the court. The little brook would laugh and splash along on the rocks and cheer the king’s heart. Not only that but the king knew when travelers were on their way to his kingdom they often grow weary and faint. Some never make it. But those that made it to the brook were refreshed and able to continue their journey strengthened and cheered. Yes the little brook was confident that he enjoyed the king’s favor and indeed was doing a good job all around. But not everyone liked the little brook and not everyone liked the king as difficult as that was to imagine. The king, like any other king, had enemies. There was one particular enemy that hated the king so much that he started hiding by the palace and watching the king to see if he could find a way to do him harm. The king was too well guarded for a direct attack but he was sure his diligence in waiting and watching would pay off with a way to do the king harm. He had noticed the king looking out from his balcony at the brook but it wasn’t until he followed the king and saw him walking by the brook and heard him talking to the brook that he realized the brook was so special to the king. It seemed the king loved the little brook. As the king made his way back to the palace the evil spy hatched his plan. So the king loves the brook. Well since the king could not be attacked directly, because he was so highly guarded he would just have to attack something that was dear to the king and take it away from him, like the brook. Oh he could see that this was going to make the king miserable. So with great joy he set to put his plan into motion. The evil one went close to the source of the brook and began to haul big stones and throw them into the brook. "Wait a minute there mister," said the brook, "What do you think you are doing?" "What does it look like I am doing?" said the evil one, "I am going to dam you up." "Evidently you don’t know who I am," said the brook with some arrogance, "I am the king’s favorite." "Yes I know," said the evil one without stopping the work. "Well if you know that," said the brook matter of factly, "then you know that the king is not going to let you dam me up because he delights in me." The evil one began to laugh. "He won’t know until it is too late, will he? You see I hate the king and since the king loves you, I hate you too. If I can’t hurt the king I can at least hurt something he loves and that dear brook is you. So you might as well stop your whining because no one is listening." The brook began to call for help but the king could not hear him. The evil one was right. But the brook was confident that the king would look out of his balcony and see him soon and send his soldiers to stop him. But as the evil one put the last big rock in place the brook realized with a sigh that he was not flowing at all anymore. "Well," said the brook to the evil one, "that is no big deal, as soon as the king sees what you have done he will take all of these rocks away and then you will be in a great deal of trouble."
The Brook – A Story Page 1 Copyright Carol Warren published with permission by DramaShare
The evil one just laughed and laughed. That didn’t make the brook feel very good but it didn’t matter he had every confidence that the king would come again soon or notice from his balcony and then everything would be ok again. He would move the rocks and punish the bad guy. The brook could hardly wait. Finally the king came for a walk by the dried up brook. He walked to the source where the brook had been dammed up. "Good morning little brook," said the king. "Oh indeed it is a good morning now," said the brook. "Now that you are hear you will remove this awful dam and restore my flow. I am so glad you are here." The king paused for a moment. He looked intently at the brook for a while before he spoke. "Do you trust me?" asked the king. "Yes I do," said the brook. "I trust you all the time. That’s why I told that evil guy that it didn’t matter what he did because you would fix it all back to normal when you found out. That’s because I trust you and I know you love me." "Do you? asked the king, sighing as he started to walk away. "Wait a minute. Where are you going?" asked the brook. "Aren’t you going to fix me before you go back to the palace?" The king turned to the little brook, a look of concern on his face. "Things are not always what they seem," said the king. "You must trust me no matter what happens. I really will take care of everything," said the king leaving. "When?" shouted the brook after him. "Soon little brook, soon," said the king and then he was gone. "Soon", thought the brook, "What does soon mean? How soon is soon? Why didn’t he just fix me now? It would have been easy for him to move those rocks. He is big and strong or he could have had any number of his soldiers move them. Why didn’t he? Why must I wait?" The brook didn’t like the idea of waiting but he had told the king he would trust him no matter what, so he would just have to think that the king had a plan and would come back tomorrow with a crew of men to remove the rocks and restore the brook. Yeah, I bet that is what he’s going to do. So the brook waited. Indeed what else could he do. Just as the brook had thought, the king returned the next day, but not with a crew of men to move the rocks. "Oh king, I am so glad to see you," said the brook, "the pressure of this water backing up is getting to be very uncomfortable. I am glad you are here to remove the rocks." "I will remove the rocks", said the king, "but not today." "Not today?" asked the brook "No but soon", said the king. "I have come to comfort you and spend time with you and make sure everything is ok." "Everything is not ok," said the brook starting the whine. "The source comes from that hole in those sandstone cliffs and now that the water is backing up the sand stone is becoming wet and the hole the source of water comes out of is getting bigger. The bigger it gets the more forcefully the water flows until as you can see there is just no more room for anymore water. With the cliffs in place there is nowhere for the water to go and that evil one built the dam so high that the water does not spill over it to bring me relief. The pressure just keeps building and it is miserable." "I understand," said the king looking at the brook with deep love and compassion.
The Brook – A Story Page 2 Copyright Carol Warren published with permission by DramaShare
"If you understand," said the brook, "then why don’t you move the rocks now", said the brook with an accusing tone. For the first time the brook saw a very stern look on the kings face. "You must not ask me why," said the king sharply, "that is like saying you don’t trust me and if you don’t trust me I will not be able to help you at all. Then the source will dry up and you will become rotten and stagnant. Then you will never flow again. You must trust me." Then with a whirl of his cape the king was gone. Wow, what was that all about, the brook wondered. He realized that the way he had asked why had been like saying he didn’t trust him. But he did trust the king, didn’t he? He just couldn’t understand why he wasn’t helping him "now". When the brook flowed through the king’s kingdom he had passed stagnant pools of water. Yuck, he did not want to be like that. So the brook made up his mind that no matter what happened or how long it took the king to help him, he was going to trust him and not ask why. Every day the king would come check on the little brook and offer words of encouragement or just spend time with him. Always when he left, the brook would ask when, and the king always said the same thing, soon. The source was getting bigger and bigger the pressure was getting unbearable. Finally the brook told the king if the pressure didn’t ease up soon he was sure he was just going to explode. He saw a look on the king’s face he couldn’t quite understand when he said that. It was as though it pleased him. The pain and the pressure were intense. The water had backup until the whole canyon was filled with water and still the water flowed. Finally with a huge crash the dam broke in pieces. It was so forceful that it was like an explosion. The force of all that water was like a tidal wave driving hard and furious. The water was so forceful that it cleared a path wide and deep. It went much further than the little brook had ever gone before. It went all the way to the ocean and was still strong. Because the hole the source came out of was bigger, the flow of water stayed strong. The brook was no longer a brook at all but a mighty roaring river that went all the way to the ocean. The king came walking by the river. He had a smile on his face. The river looked at him and then it finally dawned on him. "You knew all along didn’t you?" said the river. "Yes," said the king, "I wish I could have explained it all to you before but it wouldn’t have worked if I had. I wanted to make you into a river much bigger and stronger, going much further but I hadn’t decided how to go about doing it. When the evil one decided to dam you up, without realizing it, he was doing us both a great favor. I knew this would be the result 'if' you continued to trust me. That was why it was so important that you trust me through this whole ordeal because if you had stopped, the source would have dried up and you would have been miserable forever." "But you see," said the king, "the reward of your waiting and trusting. Now you can bless and help many people and help them on their way to my kingdom." The river was truly blessed. When he thought of how close he had come to giving up he shuddered. Had the king not encouraged him daily, he might have. Even then he began to think that the king didn’t mean the things he said. That he was promising things that would never happen. But the king knew what lay ahead and the river didn’t. He really was just trying to encourage him and see him through. Sometimes the enemy plays right into the Lord’s hands without realizing it. But we don’t realize it either. Things are not always what they seem. Our job is to trust and not ask The Brook – A Story Page 3 Copyright Carol Warren published with permission by DramaShare
why, the result, something bigger than we would have dreamed of asking for. Even reaching forcefully to the ocean (the nations). Jeremiah 29:11-13 I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. It doesn’t feel like the Lord has good plans for us sometimes but he does. He has a plan for you. So be strong and trust him. I know you will and you do. Stay full of the source and be encouraged in him daily, because your answer comes soon. And when soon comes stand back and watch the awesome wonders of God in action in your life.
The Brook – A Story Page 4 Copyright Carol Warren published with permission by DramaShare
