Thirsty for Him
Back in August, my younger 3 kids started back to school which left Caleb and I several days together….just the two of us. Being in a ‘large’ family, I rarely get a chance to spend one-on-one time with my kids, so whenever I am given the gift of having one-on-one time with them I try hard to savor it. True to form, when I asked Caleb what he wanted to do with our free day, he immediately told me he wanted to go to lunch at Zaxby’s and then to the golf course, and that’s exactly what we did.
It was a great day….all except for one thing. Do you remember August? It was AWFUL because it was miserably hot!!! This day was probably one of the hottest and we both were dripping with sweat the moment we walked onto the course. After only a couple holes, Caleb had already finished 2 water bottles and he made it clear he was dying. “Mom, please!! I’m desperate for some water! Please! Let’s just go home!” He kept begging to leave, but being the ‘finisher’ that I am, there was no way we were walking off the course without a completed score card. I told him to keep going, and tried to encourage him along the way, but he was falling apart and so was everything about our ‘fun’ day. Finally, I opened up his golf bag and found an old (probably questionable) Gatorade in his bag and handed it to him. At first he grimaced, explaining that grape was his least favorite flavor (probably why it was still in his bag), but eventually he drank the Gatorade and finished out our round of golf.
And don’t worry – once we finished, I stopped and got him an extra big drink at QT on the way home.
We’re all desperate for something, aren’t we? Maybe you’re desperate for a medical diagnosis, or desperate for a reprieve in your schedule. Maybe you’re desperate for something to change with your kids, or desperate for something to change in your finances.
Whatever we’re desperate for tends to become the primary thing we focus on. The thing that fills our hearts and our minds when we lay down to sleep at night, or stop at a traffic light during the day. It shapes our decisions, clouds our judgement, and many times the things we are desperate for becomes the only thing we can focus on.
Read Psalm 42:1-2 and pay close attention to the words that express desperation. (thirsts, pants, etc.)
I’ve read those verses multiple times, but for whatever reason, they hit me different on this morning. I think that its easy to gloss over those verses and read them almost as a goal to shoot for, or a wish we had, but what we already know is that the soul of a believer is made to crave God. We were created to be desperate for Him, and where we get messed up is that when our thirst starts to become the only thing we can focus on. So many times we look for other ways to ‘quench’ our thirst, instead of running back to that living water we already know will satisfy. We reach for the ‘grape gatorade’, and look to find whatever we can that will satiate our cravings in the moment, rather than fueling ourselves with his refreshing presence in the morning and allowing His word to restore us all day long.
Look again at verse 2. The writer of this psalm is asking where he can go to meet with God. He is so desperate, so fixated on reconnecting with God that he looks to meet with God like his life depends on it.
Sweet sister – are you chasing Jesus like your life depends on it? Are you desperate for time spent at the feet of your Savior? Are you looking for extra ways to spend your time with Him?
As leaders, its easy to become depleted and worn down as so many people pull at us for things. That’s why it is more important than ever before to be refueled each and every day by spending time in the presence of our Savior. Waking up each and every morning completely desperate for Him to speak, and move, and lead us.
That’s how I want to be in my relationship with the Lord, and I’m praying your heart is the same. Let’s be girls that live completely, utterly, and totally desperate for Him. Let’s live thirsty, running to the Well that never runs dry.
If you are honest with yourself, are you desperate for God? If not, why not?
Spend time praying, asking God to make you thirsty for Him. Ask God to draw you to Himself each and every morning, creating a desperation in your heart to spend time with Him. Ask Him to refuel and refill your soul with His living water. Write out your prayer to Him, below: