Early this morning God brought to mind one of the only times I can remember truly begging Benny. He has wanted to get out and whip people a few times, but normally it wasn’t a police officer, and never as badly as this day. We lived in Levelland for a year and a half after we got married before we moved back to Sudan. I was BIG pregnant with Xavier and my little Ford Escort ran out of gas…not a drop in the tank. Back then we shared a cell phone and I had it with me. There was no way to let him know I’d be late for lunch. It was a small car and I wasn’t far from the Stripes in front of SPC, so I put it in neutral and started pushing while I steered from the driver side door. Several cars drove by, a few even honked, but no one stopped to help. What surprised me was a police car that passed by and drove on. When I wasn’t at the restaurant on time, Benny came looking for me. I was almost to the gas station. He pushed the car the rest of the way and we filled up. We went on to the restaurant, and lo and behold, guess who was there? When I pointed out the officer that had passed me up, Benny got furious and stood to confront him. It took A LOT of begging and pleading to keep him at our table and finish our meal. We were both tired and irritated and it ruined the meal we had planned.
If I had gotten gas earlier, none of that would have occurred. I had allowed my tank to get dry, completely dry and I had no reserves. That spiraled into a whole chain of events that could have been prevented. Sometimes my spiritual life gets bone dry, too. I get so busy “working for God,” that sitting and visiting with Him falls by the wayside. And before I know it, my heart is empty, my soul is parched, and my attitude shows it.
“The grass in the front yard is brown. It’s been too long since the last rain. The consistency of that big, fat star is astounding and maddening. It rises every day, and it burns all day long. Without rain, there is no way for the grass to survive this constant baking. I am brown, spotted, and parched. The sun of this trial, and two weeks with not one drop of rain, have left me scorched and hard. I am angry and hot. My soul cries out for water in this arid place. God, bring rain soon. To the grass in my front yard and to the grass in my soul. I won’t make it without you.” — Johnson, Nicole. Fresh-Brewed Life Revised and Updated. Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
This quote from a Bible study I’m doing that was written in her personal journal, and it is about as real and honest as it gets.
**Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.”“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” John 4:10-15
COVID threw me into overdrive without notice. Instead of stopping to get a heart check, I have gone full speed ahead and rarely stopped. This morning I woke up running as soon as my feet hit the floor, “so much to do, so little time to do it.” We have a full rest of this week and weekend. “Get ‘er done” has become a way of life, not just a comedy phrase.
As I opened my Bible this morning, I felt like God said, “Sit. Talk with Me. Drink from this glass of Living Water.” My soul is dry, my Spirit is parched, and my tank is completely empty. How did I let this happen? I’ve been doing all the “good and noble things” and neglecting the “best” things. My Bible studies have been shorter than usual, my walks have fallen off my calendar, and I live in overdrive, trying to make it all work. God saw my parched soul, God waitied, and God called me out on it.
**O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1
I am thankful we have continued to meet by computer during this time. But I cannot tell you how bad I’ve missed going to church and seeing “our people.” Loving on them fills my tank every week. Meeting together usually waters the dry, parched areas of my heart. Being with Circleback touches places in my soul that I don’t even realize need attention. When we meet again, it will be like going home after being gone to college for the first time. I can’t wait to hear the voices raise together in singing, watch the hands raise, and watch Benny’s face as he interacts with an audience again. He has gotten good at preaching to a camera, but it will still be a good day when he has faces to get feedback from again. It has been nice to continue to worship together, even if it is by computer. But there is something special about being inside the church building with others believers we have worshiped with for almost two decades.
**For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20
This morning, will you meet the Savior at the well with me? He knows our hearts, He knows our states of mind, and He knows our schedule. Can we set the to-do list aside for a little bit and just drink? His Living Water will refresh us more than any item we check off on a piece of paper.
LORD, this morning, give me a drink of Your Living Water. Let me sit with You awhile and just enjoy being in Your presence. Thank You for such a wonderful church to “go home” to when we meet again. Remind me of the “best things,” and let me not put them in front of the “good and noble things.” Amen
**Then He showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelations 22:1-2
LIVING WATERS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYuCfHc6D3M
ON THE PORCH 