Water

I just got back from vacation in Jackson Hole, WY. Let me tell you it was beautiful and cool and we hiked until our seven-year old thought her feet may fall off.

The thing about Jackson Hole is that it is about a mile above sea water and it has NO humidity. In fact it had rained one day we were there and the ground was dusty within hours. Makes for cooler weather but I discovered something on our third day there. I discovered that since it was so dry, I needed to drink much more water than normal. How did I come to this revelation? I started having altitude sickness.  I was nauseated, had a headache, didn’t feel like eating, was somewhat dizzy.  So I forced myself to drink water.  32 ounces of water later (in less than 20 minutes), I had finally perked up.  I felt like myself and ended up going on a two-mile hike with my family when only minutes earlier all I wanted to do was lay down and close my eyes.  I didn’t feel dehydrated, I didn’t look dehydrated, but I needed MORE water.

The point to sharing this story is that in the dry places of life we need more water than normal.  So when you suddenly look around you and you feel spiritually dry.  Your prayers seem to hit the ceiling and bouncing back.  Discouragement beats you down like the blistering heat.  Maybe you are just feeling blue and nothing around you seems right.  You need more water than usual.  You may be saying, but I haven’t stopped praying or reading my Bible.  I am doing the SAME thing I have done before.  Friend, in the dry times you need more.

Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:38  Don’t you see that in those dry times Jesus is saying, “Come to me.  Come.  Come to me.  Through ME you have water, but you have to come.”

So you need more Jesus, you need to memorize scripture (don’t tell me you can’t my two-year old is memorizing scripture).  Maybe you need to find a different way to read through the Bible (maybe a chronological Bible or Inductive Bible Study, or any other tool to give you a fresh perspective).  You also need to pray.  Pray more, pray for people you haven’t thought of in a while, pray for whatever is causing the dry time.  Pray for your church, pray for your friends, pray for your family.  Pray for our country, pray for our leaders, pray for forgiveness.  Pray!

Are you saying times are dry?  Are you saying you are feeling worn out, frazzled and discouraged.  You need more Jesus.  Spend intimate time with Him.  Tell Him how you are feeling.  Listen to Him by reading His word.  Meditate on His word by memorizing it.  Are you already doing that?  Do more!  Just like me in Jackson Hole, I didn’t feel like drinking water, I was nauseated.  However when I forced myself to drink more, I got better.  Friend, it may start as forcing yourself to spend MORE time with Jesus.  It won’t end that way.  I found the more water I drank the better I felt and the more water I wanted to drink.  It is the same with Jesus.  The more time you spend with Him, you will find that you want more and more time.  It may start with difficulty, but prayerfully it will end with greater intimacy with our Jesus, the dryness gone, and a new Godly perspective to boot.

How about you?  Have you experienced dryness only to find the answer More Jesus?  Tell me about it!  Or maybe you are in the dry time and need more tools to help bring you to the living water of Jesus.  Let me know.  I’d love to hear your comments!