In a Dry and Parched Land

I'd like to make one of these - I have the tub. 

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

 [ A psalm of David. 

When he was in the Desert of Judah. ] 

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; 

I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry 

and parched land where there is no water.Psalm 63:1 NIV

I suppose we tend to take water for granted. After all you just turn a faucet and ta-da! you have water. There are rarely worries about water. In America it is almost as sure as the sun rising each day. I lived in Arizona for a while and it is not the place to be a weather man. Every day except for a short time during the monsoon the forecast was sunny and hot. I currently live in the Pacific North West and I have learned to get out and enjoy a sunny day because for much of the year it is grey and gets dark early. The last few days have been pretty glorious and I have made time to sit on the porch and enjoy the sun shine. 

I our verse today David compares his yearning for God the value of water in a dry and parched land. Our souls quickly become dry and parched with out God. We often due to the busy pace of life will allow our selves to remain in that dehydrated state far too long. The idea however is that water is one of those things that we need daily in order for our bodies to function as designed. For our spirits to thrive we need to be saturated in the presence of the Lord. If you were lost in a desert one of your first concerns would be to find a water source. 

I suppose the question that comes to mind for me is to wonder, is the presence of the Lord in my life as simple as turning the faucet?  Or have I become so estranged from Him that to hear his voice and find his presence is like a desperate search for water while lost in the desert? 

Yesterday was the first Sunday in a month that we were able to go to church. We've been busy moving and since I have massage school and teach music students during the week most of the move had to happen during the weekends. It was wonderful to see my church family and to even see some new faces. I enjoyed worshiping and praying with people. I was just glad to be there, I was not concerned with the little things that did not go to plan or could have been done better. If you are just someone who attends services and in not part of putting them on you may not even realizes the hundreds of little details that someone has to attend to each week. So at times I can get stuck in the mechanics of a service and forget to simply enjoy the presence of God in spite of the variety of little hiccups and glitches.  Yesterday was not one of those days after a long month of moving it was good to be in the house of the Lord. 

I suppose there are some things that I do to stay saturated in the Lords presence. I want to have more than just a cup of water for the thirsty, I want to be a well of salvation. I want to be able to tap into the stream of the Lord's presence for myself and for others. For some people their water source is their church. They go to be fed and refreshed. Once a weak they go to church and its kind of like going to the big all you can eat smorgasbord. They go to fill up their spiritual tanks so you can get through the week. I don't think that is God's intention for his people for very long. Sure when you are just discovering the Lord you are like a baby that needs regular bottle feeding. As you grow you are supposed to learn to feed yourself. Some folks get the mistaken impression that "church" is the source. The source is always the Lord himself and his presence is available to you where ever you are. Even if you are in some deep dark pit His presence can be found by those who truly seek Him with all their heart. 

Things that have helped me. 

• Learn to be quiet. Take time to be quiet. 

• Learn that prayer is a conversation not like a long list to Santa. I share but I also must listen. 

• Learn to set aside times to be in the word and to worship and pray each day. You may say "I don't have time." I say we make time for the things that are important to us. 

• Learn to be in an on going conversation with the Lord. 

• Spend time in the Word and learn to rightly apply it to everyday life. 

• Realize that our walk with the Lord is a journey and that He knows the way. 

• Learn to recognize the nudges of the Holy Spirit and to respond quickly to them. 

I suppose that is still a short list and you may be asking how do you do those things. You start with that little mustard seed of faith and you allow your relationship with the Lord to grow. Relationships that grow are those that we make time for. Too often we are to caught up in our situations and our worry that we are so consumed that the Lord could be standing at our right hand and we would not even notice. We are so busy trying to fix and manipulate things to go our way that we often forget till things get out of control and seem utterly hopeless, that we were never really in control. 

Prayer: 

Lord, come and fill these readers with your presence. Take them from where they are in this moment out into deeper water with you. Help them to be saturated by your presence so they may themselves be filled but also have water for the thirsty all around them. 

Help us each to move beyond being bottle fed and entertained to being able kingdom ministers.