savor the sip
“Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.’
‘Please, sir,’ the woman said, ‘give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.’” John 4:13-15
My Abba,
Thank you for understanding my physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs and frailties. You know them better than I do, because you have perfect knowledge, created me, and made your home in me. I am so grateful nothing is hidden from you.
You are perfectly acquainted with every cell in my body, every emotion in my heart, and every thought in my mind. You see my thirst for so many things. Even though I drink, you know I will soon become thirsty again.
It comforts me to remember you are not some detached spiritual force that cannot relate to my struggles. I am glad you have the most intimate knowledge of all my desires and me.
The woman at the well wanted her physical thirst to be sated permanently. I can relate. Her request resonates with me, “Please, sir, give me this water!”
Sometimes life can leave me desperately yearning for relief. It feels like my tongue is so completely stuck to the roof of my mouth, I don’t know how to swallow. When I ask for you to relieve that circumstantial thirst (need or want), I admit, in my flesh, I am disappointed if I don't get the quick magic-wand fix.
Since it is not your way to run around preventing all my discomfort, I need you to refresh my perspective. Many times what you offer me is something living and eternal, instead. It might be patience, trust, joy, love, wisdom, strength, or peace in the midst of what troubles me. Please increase my passion for the inexhaustible well of your presence, especially, in the midst of a “parched and weary land where there is no water.”*
Satisfy me with an endless cup of fresh spring water from your eternal fountain of delights. Please capture my heart today with your eternal pleasure that never runs dry.
I love you,
Mollie
My child,
Even in the face of scorching circumstances that threaten to shrivel your soul, I can bring you a supernatural sip of life. Nothing can replace, compete with, or snatch that away.
No perfectly crafted situation according to your desire du jour, no rose garden waltz through this life, no completion of the ultimate bucket list will ever trump the experience of wading shoulder deep in the glory of my living water.
That eternal experience is what you were made for. You are an eternal creature in a temporal tent passing through this earth-bound chapter of your life. Your tent has to be maintained and your responsibilities tended while you are on earth, but they are not who you are. Eternal creatures are only truly satisfied by what is eternal.
I am the delightful, ever-lasting spring within you. The blistering droughts of this life can never overwhelm me. Only I can satisfy your deepest, abiding thirst. Be refreshed in me, your Living Water! Savor a sip of eternity today.
I love you,
Abba
* Psalm 63:1
photo: anna om