Thirsty Soul

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

~John 7:37-38

Have you ever been so thirsty that you thought you’d never get enough to drink? Thirst is a horrible feeling if you don’t have water handy. Dehydration can cause a lot of physical problems from a mild headache to kidney failure and death. We need water to survive. Everything around us needs water to survive. In the desert there’s a lot of plants and animals that can go long periods of time without water, particularly, there is one little plant that experiments were done on that has a unique way of surviving – by dying. During the experiment, scientists gave the plant plenty of water and then didn’t water it again. The first year, the plant appeared to have died, but eventually, it sent out little feelers looking for water, not finding any, it went back to its dormant state. This went on year after year. Each year, the plant looked for water, finding none, went back to its dormant state. Finally, in the eighth year of the experiment, the plant went on its last expedition for water, found none and gave up. The plant died. But what a tough plant it is! Can you imagine if we were that determined when everything looks hopeless?

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer (Romans 12:12).”

People are not particularly patient, especially when our lives are bleak looking. We give up, give in, and fall down when life throws us curveballs. Our lives are full of ups and downs and sometimes, the downs can bring us way down. We can let the downs become depression to the point where we can’t pray, can’t read the Bible, or worship the Lord. That is where the devil likes us to stay. Our minds are his playground if we haven’t made it God’s battleground. That’s not to say we don’t have reason on occasion for feelings of being off our game or being upset when we lose something or someone important in our lives. It becomes a problem when it interferes in living our lives, or when we begin to lose sight of our hope and begin to believe that nothing is going to change.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my Salvation and my God (Psalm 43:5).”

It is when we are at our weakest that we need to cling to Jesus and read God’s word even more. We need to hold fast to our hope that God is in control and even if things appear to be wrong, God sees the entire picture and has a plan for us. We see so little of the big picture and our narrow view can lead us to separate from the Lord when we need Him most. No matter how we feel, we can trust God has our best interest at heart. No matter how dark the future seems, we can trust that God holds our future in His hands. No matter how we fail ourselves, we can trust that we haven’t failed God. The battle is the Lord’s and we only have to trust in His leadership. We may be in a dry place, but we can still be like that little desert plant and send our feelers towards God. He will send us rest and replenish our thirsty souls.

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers (Psalm 1:1-3).”

Read Psalm 49-51

©2018 Marie McGaha