My five year old son has this habit of barely drinking water all day and going about his activities. But at night, just before he goes to bed, he is suddenly very thirsty and begs to drink water. “I am thirsty!” he pleads. Then he heads to the kitchen immediately, pours himself some water and does not stop drinking until his thirst is quenched and he is satisfied.
My son had to first be thirsty to realize his need for water. He was not going to drink water otherwise. He had to come to that state of being in need in order to know of what water can do- quench his thirst. He had to come this helpless state to know of the power of water. His thirst made him look for a means to quench it.
This morning as I pondered over this simple phenomenon of thirst, I began meditating on some scriptures:
Psalm 42:1-3 says, “ As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. I thirst for God, the living God, when can I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, “Where is your God?”
Psalm 63:1 goes like this, “God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.”
Psalm 143: 6: “I spread out my hands to You; I am like parched land before You.”
Perhaps you are in a state today like the Psalmists describe above: you feel depleted and parched. You feel deeply depressed and you have been crying your eyes out. You feel this absolute turmoil within you and a sense of helplessness washes over you. Perhaps you are surrounded by people who look at your deep sorrow and anguish and instead of offering a word of encouragement or holding you in your pain as you weep or offering some comfort, they question where God is in your life. You have onlookers and spectators instead of hands-on support. The psalmist describes this state perfectly well in the following verses:
Psalm 143: 4: “My spirit is weak within me; my heart is overcome with dismay (=disappointment, shock, apprehension, panic).”
Psalm 143: 7: “Answer me quickly, Lord; my spirit fails.”
I don’t know what bleak situation you find yourself in that feels so dark and deep that you feel depleted and parched. But I do know looking at the Psalms before me that such a place is a great place to be in. It is where our soul and spirit are deeply sensitive to God. It is where His Spirit communes with ours. It is where through the flowing tears we come to recognize our weakness and frailty against the backdrop of His glorious majesty and power.
When my son is thirsty, he does not ask to drink juice or milk or any other drink. He knows that it is only water that can satisfy his thirst completely. The others will make him thirsty again.
When we struggle with deeply soul wrenching problems, we tend to reach out for something to distract us or to temporarily numb our pain. Perhaps a book or music or maybe a call to a friend or maybe engaging in an activity that takes our mind away from the problem. These distractions may seem to help momentarily but the support they offer is temporary and before you know it, you are likely to return to the very feeling of deep loneliness and despair that you have been trying to push aside before.
My friend, may I gently take your hand today and lead you to the One who quenches this deep thirst that arises from the depths of your soul so you may never thirst again. Jesus says in John 4:14, “But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.”
There is no challenge, no relationship, no heartache, no hopeless situation that God cannot touch and redeem. It is my prayer for you as you read this, that you will recognize Jesus as the only One who can quench this thirst.
When He takes hold of you, He assures you that you will know and recognize that you will not need any other substitute to quench your thirst- for you will never be thirsty again. And not just that: God also causes a well of water to flow from within you such that you will begin to bless those around you after receiving His life giving water. Such blessed assurance this is!!
Oh take hold of Him, for He is good and His mercy endures forever.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I feel so overwhelmed. This deep despair is beyond me. I need You today. Every bit of me longs for Your touch. I need Your comforting presence. I need You to take hold of my hand today. To pick me up from this misery. I want to drink of Your Word. I want to taste of Your goodness. I want You to show me yet again that even this situation can be redeemed and be made beautiful. In Jesus’ Name, amen.