Parched

Have you ever been in a desert?  Or maybe you have been in a place where it was so hot and dry that your body was literally sreaming for water?

I remember a time when I was in a friend's attic doing some electrical work for him, and the temperature was over a hundred degrees.  I thought my time up there would be short but the work took longer than I expected--but I knew I didn't want to go back up there so I pressed on.  The sweat was literally running off of me and my thirst grew and grew.  Eventually I finished up and when I came down the ladder I realized the extent of my dehydration as I began to get dizzy and was shaking slightly from head to toe.
I remember my only thought:  I need a drink and I need it now!  This was the only thing on my mind--to get that cool, refreshing water, that was what I needed.  That was all I needed!

Sometimes our lives can look a little like this:  we go about our daily business and we know that things might be a little rough, but we press on and we tell ourselves "just a little further" without realizing that our efforts are depleting our resources quicker than they are being replenished.  If we don't address the problem we can start to exhibit cracks in our character.  Maybe we get a little short with other people, or possibly we just don't seem to be able to handle pressure like we could before, or we get angrier a bit sooner than normal.   Whatever the symptom is, it is only that, a symptom of something that has snuck up on you but is now screaming for attention.

Just like my body needed water right now after coming down from that attic, souls that have been overworked and undernourished are crying out for help right now as well.

It amazes me how much God offers us, and yet how easy it is to ignore His gifts, even when we are in obvious need.  Maybe the following will be nourishment for your soul today:

John 7:37 "If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me. . .streams of living water will flow from within him."

If you are achingly thirsty, there is no way to describe the feeling when you take that first drink.  It isn't just that your body is being replenished, there is an immediate sense of well-being that flows as well--you just feel better.  Jesus knows when our souls are thirsty and that He has just what the doctor ordered to bring healing.  You will be filled up, your needs met with such abundance that you will not receive just barely enough to overcome your thirst, but you will receive so much that your soul will overflow--with more than enough!

I know it sounds hard to believe, but that's another amazing thing about Jesus.  He doesn't ask us to have it all figured out--how it all 'works' before we ask for help.  He just wants us to ask.

I think it's because He already knows he wants to touch our parched souls, He is just waiting for the green light. . . .are you ready?

BT