What is the picture you are painting for tomorrow, or next year? If you are like me, that picture is far more uncertain today, than it ever has been. The world has changed so much. For example, I have no idea how COVID will shape the coming months, although I have some suspicions. It affects every aspect of our lives. Think of all the good things we are missing out on! Things like Church, athletics, weddings, and even funerals. It’s not just COVID, there is also a new government coming in January. With it, comes a whole new set of worries. What about taxes and healthcare? Will Biden really stack the Supreme Court? What will happen with abortion and college tuition and how in the world will we pay for a $3 Trillion-dollar stimulus plan? How will we survive?
As I stir up those feelings inside of me, I can feel the torture on my heart. I’ve done it before. Sometimes I find myself dwelling there. Maybe you have too. The question is, how do we stop it? What would it look like to be on the other side? To live in a world of hope, abundance, and joy, no matter the circumstance? There is only one way, according to Jesus’ words in John 7:37. First, he says, you must thirst.
The analogy of being thirsty is a good one because there are many things that might quench our thirst, but only one thing really satisfies it. In his book “Streams of Living Water,” Richard Foster talks about eating an apple in the desert. Sure, the apple would be a delight if you had nothing to drink. I would eat it gladly and heartily savoring all of the precious juices I possibly could. Sure, I would want water, but the apple will do. If tomorrow there are still apples nearby, I will continue eating the apple. Even, instead of looking for water. Apples would not and will never be, however, be anything close to drinking a glass of water. Only water will fully satisfy.
Second, our thirst must be augmented by belief. Not just any belief, however. Jesus asserts in verse 38 that satisfaction comes only from believing in him. That’s right, there is nothing else we pursue that can satisfy us like Jesus Christ. He is the water. In fact, Jesus fills us so perfectly that out of us will flow His living water. What does that mean? It means that COVID and elections have absolutely no bearing on my life. They cannot change my trajectory and will not alter my course. They are irrelevant because my life, my energy, my entire being is wrapped around Him.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers. Psalms 1:3 (ESV)