Spiritual Dehydration

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”  Psalm 42:1

Is there anything more miserable than being truly thirsty?  True thirst causes us to feel desperate. I remember years ago when we were on vacation in August.  The day was reaching record temperatures.  After sight-seeing outside for several hours, we went into a restaurant to rest and cool off.  We all ordered water and the cashier informed us (rather rudely) that we would have to pay for the cup.  I remember a family member telling her, “I don’t care if it’s ten dollars!  I need a cup of water!”  She mistook our thirst for thrift.

This passage talks about the deer panting for streams of water.  How desperate it is for animals when we go through seasons of drought, through times when creeks and streams dry up.  This type of drought leads to desperation for wild-life.  The psalmist was saying that just as the deer gets desperate for water, he was desperate for more of God. 

When was the last time you noticed true spiritual hunger or thirst in your life?  Tragically, many of us snack just enough on spiritual tidbits and a thimbleful  of water, until we think we are satisfied.  We have become so accustomed to having so little, our stomachs and appetites shrink to a fraction of the size they ought to be.

Pray for the Lord to help you cultivate a deep hunger and thirst for the things of God.  Just as a gravely ill person loses a desire to eat or drink as the body shuts down, the spiritually dying do not realize their need.  Are you as passionate about the things of God as you once were?  If not, begin to cry out with the psalmist, “My soul pants for you, O God.”

Dear Lord, help me to recognize my need of you.  Stir up spiritual hunger and thirst in my soul.  I need you Lord, more than my body needs water.  Fill me, O God I pray!  In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Sherri