An Unbearable Thirst

I am thirsty, very thirsty. I’m not sure how this happened.

Maybe the world failed to quench my thirst…

Running alongside my fellow rats in the rat race makes me tired, disillusioned and thirsty. I need something more than what the world has to offer!

Hold on – I am a believer. Why am I still imagining that the world can provide relief for this intense thirst that I am feeling? I should have learnt this lesson by now! Relying on the world can never quench the thirst for God burning inside me.

Maybe I failed to quench my thirst…

 “You are enough.” “I am enough.” Do those phrases sound familiar? Sometimes I am tempted to believe that I am enough. I have lived long enough to know what to do, how to do it and when to do it! When challenges come along, I know exactly what spiritual procedures to follow. 

Wait – did I just say spiritual procedures? What happened to relationship? Relationship with God? 

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (NIV)

I am the branch, and Jesus is the vine – not the other way round. Does that mean if the vine does not send me water, I will wither and die? Yes!  I must stay connected to this vine at all times, otherwise my thirst will never be quenched!

Psalm 63:1 “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” (NIV)

Only God can quench this thirst.

David wrote the words above when he was in a desert. You can imagine the heat, dry and raspy throat, fatigue and intense grumblings from his men. David could easily have trekked to a more comfortable place where there was water, but he didn’t. He recognized that the thirst he felt was a spiritual thirst. He needed God – his entire being longed for the Lord.

Many times when I need God, I literally thirst for Him. How I wish I could be more successful in blotting out the world and spending time with the Lord. How I wish that I would always remember how to recognize my thirst for God, and to run into His presence to quench it.

Are you thirsty for God today? Let Him fill you up completely, and quench your thirst like nothing or nobody else can.