Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Only Cup That Satisfies . . .

     The Only Cup That Satisfies

     Before me sits a cup of water, pure, clear, from the faucet sink. Immediately I think of the water of Africa. For those I know who are even fortunate enough to have a sink to draw water from, instead of walking a distance with cans, the water is not clean, pure, drinkable. We are such a blessed culture. Not a very needy culture when it comes to material things. My clothes are in the washer, another load is in the dryer, the dishwasher is filled with freshly clean plates, the fridge is stoked, the car has gas, the closet has selection, the bills are being paid...we are blessed on the surface things, no one can deny that. But what about the deeper things? The water for our souls? Why is it that I can look around and see all these material comforts and blessings, yet still constantly find myself thirsty. I can go get a clean cup and fill it with clean water, drink it, and still find thirst. 
The reality is this: Satisfaction in life is not found in the abundant of things one posses, but in what is filling your cup. From the well that you are drawing your water from. 
     Water...a necessary part of life and living. One cannot survive apart from water. Jesus spoke that if one drinks from His well, he will never thirst again, but of any other well, thirst will remain (John 4).
I need water to survive within the land I am living in this time, but I need a deeper water. I do not find the joy I desire through dwelling on my blessings. I commonly find myself frustrated that I can be so disheartened when I am surrounded by such blessings, but now I am learning that the problem is deeper. Why am I still not satisfied?  It doesn't matter where I am or what abundance or lack that surrounds me, but in what I am drinking from to satisfy. God alone satisfies. 
God told one of His own, "Do not be afraid...I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward" (Genesis 15:1). This promise remains for all who are His. 
He is that which exceeds anything our eyes can perceive, or our hands can handle. Bigger than any blessing, the Living Water of Life. 
     Yes, blessings surround me and ought to bring me to a place of thanksgiving and praise, but deeper still, the tangible will only disappoint if I am not continually drinking from the well of my Savior. Jesus Christ in me is the only way that my heart may meet satisfaction and contentment in this life. 
     To the ones whose water today is dull, this God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). His waters have never failed, fail not, and will never fail. Search if you will, look high and low at all that surrounds, and you will come back to find the only way to be happy and feel blessed in your life is deeper than the tangible, deeper than what you can touch, it must be found within you. As water must be consumed and flow through the throat to quench the thirst of the body, so must we have Christ in us for the heart's thirst to be quenched, and satisfaction to be found in this life.
Jesus' cry years ago, still echos as truth this day, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-38).

2 comments:

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  2. Michelle, thank you so much for putting this up on your blog. I was really needing this reminder.

    Praying for you. I hope everything has been going well, or maybe it would be better to say, I hope your transition back home has been going smoothly.

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