Quenching a Thirsty Soul
Our souls need water too. Water is referenced in the scriptures 722 times! The Bible begins speaking of water in Genesis 1:2 where it tells us before anything was created on this earth there was water. And finishes in the end in Rev 22:17 where we are told to let anyone who is thirsty to come drink from the living waters.
One of my favorite passages is Psalm 42:1-2, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?" The panting of our souls in this scripture is a poetical license to say a longing for God, a living God. This type of thirst is a continuous appetite for the Living Water. It is our hearts cry longing to know and experience God and all that He has for us.
Psalms 63:1 says, "O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water." We are so thirsty for what God has for us, both as believers and non-believers, and yet we search for anything and everything except God,to quench that thirst. We do not reason that God is the one to satisfy that insatiable longing. When our souls thirst for God, only God himself can satisfy these cravings. Our misery is that we thirst so little for the beautiful things God has for us. I’m not speaking of physical things, although He can certainly bless us with those. What we crave goes much deeper than the things we try to satisfy ourselves with. We try and fill these voids with what the world seduces us with. What comes to mind is drugs, sex and alcohol, but we should consider television, Facebook and video games too. We are in a “weary land” where there is not much living water.
If we are all honest with ourselves, our souls long for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the satisfying gifts that God blesses us with when we spend time with Him by praying and reading the Bible. When we put our hope and trust in God, we become strong in spirit, which exudes into everything we put our hands to. We become more loving to our spouses, family, friends and even strangers. We become less stressed and more peaceful. We are able to control our emotions better and handle ourselves better in difficult situations. We are more committed to our spouse and more dependable to those around us. We make better decisions and are more generous, friendly and considerate of others. All the qualities that we want and expect others to have towards us, we grow in when we grow in our relationship with God.
But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8
When we put our hope and trust in God, our living water, we become strong like that tree. We put our roots, our very being and soul into the Living Water, and we are not bothered by tough times because we know where our water source is. Water is so important both to our bodies and our souls. So…drink up!
Shazzy Fitness Guest Blogger Mindy Kaye is a Christian Holistic Health Coach, wife, mother and nana. She has 3 blogs: one dedicated to life in general; one for her journey during and after breast cancer; and one called It All Begins with Dirt, which is dedicated to getting back to the basics of growing and eating healthy, organic foods. Follow her on Facebook at Healthy Choices Lifestyles.