The rains were falling steadily all night, and as I saw a break this morning, I was drawn outside to witness the sparkling of the drops as they caressed the new growth on the peonies:
Have you ever been thirsty?
I am speaking about the kind of thirsting
where you feel so thirsty there is a fainting in your soul.
I have been in that land of thirsting,
and I have watched the shimmering waves
of heat baking the desert sands
as my parched soul
looked up to Heaven
waiting
for even one cloud to form.
Many years ago, my family traveled and shared a drama in which I portrayed The Woman at the Well. Week after week, in many different settings, my lips spoke the cry of a woman so thirsty that she begged for a drink when the well was right before her. You see, Jesus had offered to her a different kind of water: a filling up for her soul's thirsting.
"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.'”
As the weeks and the months passed, everytime I spoke those woman's words, a deeper longing was planted in my own heart. I didn't know it at the time, though. I thought I was being filled, as I gave out the words of Jesus, week after week.
Ah, how does it happen?
How does a cry in our heart
become lodged so deep
that only another
longing
can answer in return?
I thought I knew how deep the well in my own heart was. I thought I felt the fullness of my Lord's Words when I shared His heart with those around me. But I had only scratched the surface. I offered my praise, and I offered my worship, and my Lord knew what was required to let me see my own unmet longing.
The desert of pain
And the heat of suffering
burned away the
half-met longings
to uncover
the well where
full-hearted cries
could finally be uttered.
I have some very dear friends who continually pray for my healing. They wait in hope for the day that Jesus will restore movement to me, and a full remission in this place of pain. Where would I be without their sweet prayers of HOPE? And I do see improvement from the awful heat and swelling that began this journey of disease.
But there is a deeper healing
in my soul
that I would never trade
even for just a day
without physical pain.
For how can I tell
of the wondrous
filling
for my soul's
thirsty well?
How can I sing
of my Savior's dear Presence
carrying my heart
to His bosom of rest
when the pain
overwhelms?
And How will I share
these dewdrops of love
poured down on my heart
when the desert sky
breaks
with the water
from Heaven?
Is your heart facing a desert sun today? Are you fainting as the heat of the day wastes your soul? There is a filling that can happen for you too, my friend. There is a place of stillness close to the heart of God where He calls you to come. It is His very Word spoken at the end of our drama, week after week. I longed for those words to be mine, years ago, but it took the pain of suffering to bring them home to my heart:
"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let the one who hears say, 'Come!' Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life."
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