Are You Suffering from Soul Dehydration?

This morning, I came downstairs to notice a completely parched plant begging for a drink.

This pretty plant with yellow flowers looked like it was dead! I purchased this plant for a friend, and I told her I would try to keep the plant alive until I see her again, which would be next week.

A true confession here is that I am not the best with plants. I do have some succulents, but I must be honest and say even one of those died. I don’t know why it died, but I’ve concluded it is all about how much or how little you water your plant.

Water Brings Life

As soon as I watered my friend’s plant, I could see it coming back to life right before my very eyes. The leaves began to look a beautiful rich green, and it looked as though the little yellow primrose was smiling at me. I’m happy to report that this plant is going to make it! After a few hours, it didn’t even look like the same plant. I was delighted to give the plant back to my friend alive and healthy.

Why Am I  Miserable?

My experience with this plant made me think about my spiritual life. How often have I found myself feeling completely parched, distant from God because I haven’t watered myself with His Word? It is easy to be busy and skip watering a plant, but to deprive yourself of the Living Water will send you into a slow and painful spiritual death. It starts slowly with no visible signs to the outside world that we are lacking until we get to the point where it shows. What does it look like to be spiritually thirsty? Maybe we are agitated, depressed, isolated, selfish, prideful, or weary. Basically, we are plain miserable. We aren’t that different from plants because we both have a root system that can’t survive without water. Growth comes from making sure our roots are nourished. To sustain life’s elements, we must water ourselves and our plants and make sure the water gets to the core and root of who we are. Are you suffering from soul dehydration?

Doctors tell us by the time we are thirsty, we are already dehydrated, and this is why it is important to drink before you become thirsty. Dehydration causes many physical issues, just as being dehydrated spiritually will cause you spiritual distress.

The Soil Tester

Recently, I purchased this soil tester that can tell me when I need to water or not water my plants. It is beneficial because it takes the guessing out of the game. I wish, as a believer, I had a soil tester that could tell me when I was getting a little dry, but the fact is I do. Each of us has the Holy Spirit that gently nudges us, whispering to our hearts what we need. However, if I neglect to listen to the Holy Spirit due to my selfish ways, you can bet I will dry up. I won’t be good for anybody, including myself. 

Ever Have a Soul Cramp?

It is essential to get water to the core because it can permeate the areas it needs to go. If we don’t have enough water, we become dehydrated, resulting in painful muscle cramps. However, as soon as we can drink water or something with electrolytes, the pain subsides. Cramps remind us we need to drink. Have you ever had a soul cramp? A soul cramp is when you are thirsty for what the world can’t give you, and only God can supply. A soul cramp is when your heart is desperate for some time with Jesus.

Trust me; I have experienced soul cramps more than I care to admit. Only through drinking His Living Water can we become a living stream for others. But, if we are not drinking it for ourselves, we can’t expect to help others.

Jesus said in John 7:37-38:

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”

Jesus Invites Us

Do you see what Jesus is doing in this scripture? He is inviting us into a beautiful relationship that will never run dry. Jesus invites everyone, regardless of age or race, or where we live, to drink. There is another place in scripture where Jesus asks a Samaritan woman at the well for a drink, and what Jesus ends up giving her, she pours out to a whole city!

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock? 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.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

John 4:9-15: (NIV)

Jesus gave her a drink of the pure, living water that ended up changing her life and all those who lived there. Once she drank the water, it poured out from her! Samaritans didn’t have anything to do with Jews until Jesus showed up and reached out with an invitation to this woman to take a drink of water that would never make her thirst again. Jesus gives us the same promise! When we drink His Living Water, streams pour out from our innermost being!

Let the Water Flow

We need God’s Living Water every day. How do we make sure we are well watered? We do this by spending time in prayer, reading His Word, and taking time to listen for His voice. If we don’t take time to allow God to nurture us, the Holy Spirit can’t flow through us. The world is full of distractions, and it’s the enemy’s desire to stop the flow of Living Water in your soul. He wants you to be damned up! Without you, there is someone who may never see or experience the love of God!

Yes, we all get busy, but if we are too busy to find space and a place for God, we are too busy! Spring is here, and we can find ourselves with all kinds of new tasks. Many of us will plant, water, and nurture plants we want to grow and produce. God wants to do the same for us in our lives. God desires to grow, produce and allow the Holy Spirit to flow through every part of our lives.

Take A Drink

What about you? Do you need a drink? Are you feeling dried up with nothing to give? I want to encourage you to take a long, slow drink that will refresh your soul from the inside out. I’m sure we have all been in that place but know you don’t have to stay there. Let His Living Water become a raging river in your life that others can see and want.

Let His Love Flow

There is a saying, “The more we know, the more we grow!” When we spend time with God, he teaches us more about Him and ourselves. Jesus will always give His peace, contentment, and joy, but most of all, His love that comes from His never-ending supply of living water.