Thirst

The Samaritan woman at the well was bewildered that a Jewish man was speaking to her, asking her for a drink.   

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  

Never thirst.

Thirst for what?   For the feeling of significance, the feeling of being safe, the feeling of belonging?  We will have feelings of longing for these things at times.  We are designed to long for them. 

But Jesus isn't talking about feelings.   He is not saying we will never feel insignificant in a certain situation, unsafe in a dangerous place, or lonely and wanting companionship. 

Feelings are temporary and sometimes not to be trusted.   This deep thirst must be quenched by more than just emotional satisfaction from our circumstances.

   

"Living" is a grammatically present progressive, implying that it does not stop and start or just end - like feelings do.    If we base our lives on efforts to secure emotional satisfaction, we come to a dead end.   We will strive, manipulate, and eventually exhaust ourselves.  

Timothy Keller, one of my favorite authors, puts it this way in his book Encounters with Jesus:

Everybody has got to live for something, but Jesus is arguing that, if he is not that thing, it will fail you.  First, it will enslave you.  Whatever that thing is, you will tell yourself that you have to have it or there is no tomorrow.  That means that if anything threatens it, you will becomes inordinately scared; if anyone blocks it, you will become inordinately angry; and if  you fail to achieve it, you will never be able to forgive yourself.  But second, if you do achieve it, it will fail to deliver the fulfillment you expected.

The first step to finding living water is to realize that we have a deeper longing, a thirst of the soul that can only be satisfied by the supernatural - never the earthly.   Its a state of being - of being "athirst".   

Jesus uses this word again in Revelation 21 when speaking to John in a vision:  "And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."

What a relief that we do not have to, and cannot if we try, find a way to satisfy the deepest needs of our soul.  

Fear No Evil

When I tuck my daughters into bed at night, or check on them one more time, a feeling of helplessness can sometimes creep in.    

What kind of world might they face someday?  Will they suffer in any way due to radical Islam or the power of our own ever-expanding government?   Will our own country be so hostile to the faith I hope they profess it will put them at risk in some way?    

It used to seem less likely and yet...I don't know.    

The people at the Boston Marathon or at a Paris concert surely thought that what happened to them was very unlikely.  When the US Ambassador was murdered in Libya in 2012 and when Americans are beheaded for all the world to see by an organization that makes Al-Quaeda look almost quaint, I felt a sense of horror and helplessness.   When it seems all precedents of evil are set, a new terror comes along for us to grapple with.  

Global things aside, we have our own self-inflicted mess, too.   I saw a fake election bumper sticker the other day that read, "Giant Meteor 2016 - Just End It Already".   It made me laugh.   It also seemed to express a collective "ughh" that most of us are feeling on either side of the election.    A speck of unity at last!  

But I don't want to be cynical.  I'm patriotic and believe in the founding principles of this country.   After a year and a half (has it been two?) of political predictions, its impossible not to wonder - could the long-range impact of the election results really affect my children's future in a negative way?   I'm an optimist by nature, but I have to accept that its possible (Supreme Court justices come to mind).    Its also impossible to put it out of mind since we must accept one of two deeply-flawed people to be our next leader.   

Whatever my children's world looks like in 20 or 30 years,  I've decided to not worry about it.  What will my worry accomplish anyway?   I have to set my sights on a firmer foundation, whatever the outcome of anything and everything, and spiritually prepare my heart and mind.

Matthew 24:6-8:  "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the be ginning of birth pains."

2 Timothy 3:1-5a:  "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power." 

So basically things going very badly won't be a surprise.   This perspective is not an invitation for us to sit around being cynical though.   There is good news, too.  

Psalm 23:4 promises, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

2 Peter 3:13, "But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells."

John 14:27, "Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.” 

There are so many more scriptures that assure us good will overcome all evil.   This is just a little handful.   When your heart grows faint and fearful, open God's Word and find comfort, guidance, and peace.