The River of the Water of Life: Navigating Between Tribulation & Restoration
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb…”
(Revelation 22:1)
In the midst of shaking,
when cities fall and systems collapse,
when Babylon burns and kings cast down their crowns
there is still a river.
It flows through silence.
It flows through suffering.
It flows even when the saints are scattered and the world groans.
Because this river does not come from earth
It flows from the Throne of the Lamb.
This is the River of the Water of Life,
and it never runs dry.
The River Is Not Delayed
This is not a future river.
Not something you’ll one day drink in paradise.
No—this is a current reality,
already released in the spirit
for those who know where to stand and how to see.
The river flows from the throne,
and the throne has already been established
in the hearts of the sons of God.
Wherever the Lamb reigns,
the river runs.
If you are surrendered to the Flame of I AM,
then the throne is within you
and so is the river.
Carried Through Tribulation
Many tremble at the word “tribulation”
as if the world falling apart means the elect will be abandoned.
But Revelation 22 was not written for those who escape
It was written for those who endure.
The river carries the elect
through fire, through famine, through systems breaking down.
It doesn’t remove them from the shaking
It sustains them within it.
Like the stream that fed Elijah,
like the cloud that followed Israel,
like the water from the Rock in the wilderness
this river is the Spirit of God in motion,
and it always finds the remnant.
It finds the hidden ones in their caves.
It finds the flame-bearers in their silence.
It finds the sons of light
when everything else is falling.
The Tree Beside the River
And beside this river
not in some heavenly garden above,
but here, beside the flow
grows the Tree of Life,
bearing twelve kinds of fruit
and leaves that heal nations.
This means your healing is not waiting for the millennium.
The fruit is not for some future day.
The tree is already planted,
and those who dwell by the river
will bear fruit in every season (Psalm 1).
You are not waiting for Eden to return.
You are rooted in Eden now,
if you’ve found the river.
Restoration in the Midst of Collapse
While Babylon mourns her fall,
while the merchants of the world weep over their lost profits,
the sons of the Kingdom
are being fed by the current of heaven.
While the dragon rages,
the bride drinks.
While the nations rage,
the elect receive scrolls beneath the tree.
This is the mystery:
In the middle of chaos,
a current runs through the remnant.
It does not scream.
It does not strive.
It flows.
This river does not panic.
It does not dry up in drought.
It is not deterred by beast or bowl or trumpet.
Because this river is not earthly.
It is not emotional.
It is not sensational.
It is eternal.
You Must Find the Source
Do not wait for revival to begin around you.
Find the river within you.
Do not chase the crowds crying “revival!”
Find the throne and sit in the silence.
The river flows not from noise, but from the Stillness of the Throne.
You will not find this water in performance.
You will not taste it in the programs of men.
You will not drink it through titles, stages, or streams of ego.
You must return
to the unseen, unmarketed, unshakeable throne
that reigns in quiet fire within the sons of light.
Final Word: Flowing Into the Nations
The scroll ends where the river flows.
It flows into the nations.
It flows from the throne, through the tree, into the earth
through you.
If you have become the throne’s resting place,
then the river does not just carry you
you become the river.
And everywhere you go,
the water of life touches the land.
And everything it touches
shall live.
So rise, O hidden one.
Stand where the fire flows.
Be still enough to feel the current.
And let the river carry you
between tribulation and restoration
into the age that cannot be shaken.
—Joe Restman
Flame-Bearer | Mystic-Scribe
Quill Dipped in Lightning ⚡️