A Satisfied Soul in Drought

Is there truly something in this world with the potential to satisfy those sometimes implacable longings and desires hidden in our hearts?

If I succeeded in my job and got the raise I'd hoped for and the position I worked so hard to attain, would I be happy?

If I gave away just a small amount of my purity so that another would love me, would I be happy?

If I worked exceedingly hard at being good and kind to people and gained approval and love from others, would I be happy?

If I found real love, got married, had children and raised them well, would I be happy?

St. Augustine said it well when he said that our hearts are restless till we rest in Him. Our hearts search and search for even an ounce of fulfillment and when the object of our searching does not satisfy, we move on to another, only to find that it too could not give us what we need.

Jeremiah 2:13 says, "For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns- broken cisterns that can hold no water."

These people did two things: 1. they forsook the Lord, the fountain of living waters. and 2. they attempted (and failed) to build for themselves cisterns to hold the water themselves. Of options one and two, which would you choose? The broken cistern with leaking water? The result there is inevitable. The water would run out and you would have to run back and forth in order to survive, exhausting yourself in the process. Or would you choose the fountain of living water?

The choice seem obvious. But how often do we choose the worse option?

Dear friend, you need to know that there is something with the potential to satisfy our every longing and need and it is in Christ alone that all fulfillment is found.

Jesus answered and said to her, "whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life," (John 4:13-14).

 Your searching needs to go no further than the cross. His grace is sufficient for us. He is our shepherd, we have all that we need. He is Himself the spring of living water.

You searching for fulfillment in the world will only ever lead to disappointment and exhaustion. There is not enough money in the world, not a perfect love, not a great position or enough admiration from others that could ever satisfy the empty space in your heart. Only Christ can do that.

The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail, (Is. 58:11).

What is a Servant?

What would happen if I began to serve others with the integrity of Jesus Christ? What if I began to lose myself in service to others? Could you imagine the effect? The love that would be spread? Oh, how the Lord has been changing my heart. I always pray for Him to break me. The reason behind this? I couldn't really tell you besides the idea that it would draw me all the more closer to Him. And do you know what happens when I pray that?

He breaks me.

He always, always breaks me when I ask Him to. Sometimes I'm like, What the- maybe I should pray for something else...?

I find, even though those have been some of the most difficult times of my life, I wouldn't have it any other way. All of those broken times in my life- every single one- continued to reveal to me just how faithful the Lord really is.

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh," (Ezekiel 36: 26).

And that is what He did and continues to do in my life. I think, even now, He is breaking me without any circumstance bringing me down. Everything in my life is going pretty good, but He's still working in my life. He's been constantly reminding me what it looks like to be a servant.

It started with an image of a nurse kneeling beside a child's deathbed. Kneeling. This was her job, but she genuinely cared for this child.

Then there's the story of the good Samaritan. A man was beat, robbed and left to die on the side of the road. Both a priest and a Levite saw him but continued on, deciding they need not help him. But a Samaritan, who was traveling, and most likely had somewhere else to be, took pity on the man. He got to his knees- down to the man's level- and bandaged him up. He took on the weight of this man and lifted him onto his donkey. This man was a servant.

As servants we are warned not to do it for others to see.

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven," (Matthew 6:1).

 It says the same thing, not only about giving to the needy, but about prayer and fasting. Hypocrites do it to be seen as righteous, but is most likely never done when they're alone. They received their reward.

"store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steel. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also," (Matthew 6:20-21).

And of course there's our ultimate example: Jesus Christ. The Lord has shown us what is good. He has shown us what it means to be a servant. For our very God of the universe came, not in power or to rule over us, but as a humble servant to save us. Let us take after His example.

He has revealed to us His love and it is because of this that we should learn from Him and love our neighbors. This is what He asked us to do. We might not feel like giving love- what does that even mean? How do we even love someone. Love is not a gooey feeling. We are to serve others and put them before ourselves and the feeling of love will follow.

Lord means master. When we call him Lord, we are calling ourselves slaves.

So why then, do we call him Lord and not do what he says? I want to be willing to step forward when He tells me to. I want to make an impact in my little corner of the world. I want to be a servant.

  

Lonely Hearts | When Will The Searching End?

For the longest time I've been waiting for some handsome prince to come and sweep me off my feet, believing that when he did, my dreams, and all that I am, will be satisfied. complete.

But I've always known this was far from the truth.

I know that God is the only one who could ever complete me. I have a whole in my heart and it's shaped like Jesus. He, and only, will ever be able to fill it. I know this, but it's never stopped me from searching for something else.

Elisabeth Elliot states in her book, Loneliness, that "marriage teaches us that even the most intimate human companionship cannot satisfy the deepest places of the heart. Our hearts  are lonely 'till they rest in Him."

I want to share with you a passage from Jackie Kendall and Debby Jones' book, Lady in Waiting:

"Incompleteness is not the result of being single, but of not being full of Jesus. Only the process of reckless abandonment to Jesus does any woman ever finally understand that, in Him, she is complete. When two "incomplete" singles get married, their union will not make them complete. Their marriage will be simply two "incomplete" people trying to find completeness in one another. Only when they understand that their fullness is found in a relationship with Jesus will they ever begin to compliment one another," (20).

So, wow. Doesn't that make so much sense? If a woman is not complete in Jesus, she "will be a drain on her husband," (20-21). I don't know about you, but I want to find all my love, acceptance, strength, dignity and honor, in Jesus Christ. If he is powerful enough to raise from the dead, I think he is powerful enough to fill our voids.

I want to be satisfied with having him, and only him. I don't want to constantly be searching for someone or something to fill me, when the truth of the matter is

It never will.

The answer is right in front of us. It always has been.

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness," (Colossians 2:9-10).

I want to spend my free hours as a single woman in a journey away from rituals and into a deep relationship with Jesus Christ. He and only He, can fulfill us. This is a good thing. No, this is a great thing. It takes a lot of the pressure off of ourselves. And also, it means that our searching?

It's over.

If you were reading this and you were thinking Hey, that's me completely. I want desperately to be fulfilled by Jesus Christ rather than looking for completion in relationships with guys, then I highly recommend this book Lady in Waiting. This book tries to direct a woman's attention to the One who really understands the longing of her heart. This book is not about finding the right man, but being the right woman. Click HERE to get the book.

Streams In The Wasteland

There is hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, looking at this dark world and seeing the enemy at work, it is hard to believe God is doing something good.

We live in a world where "people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them," 2 Peter 2:17. "They promise [us] freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity," 2 Peter 2:19.

It's all so very misleading. There are people at school that lead you to believe the only way to happiness is to go to parties for "fun," or to be popular (solution: bake cupcakes for everyone, eat the same cupcakes that popular people eat- especially Matt).

But it all just leads to emptiness- to springs without water. It seems promising, but we walk away more thirsty than ever before.

But there is hope in Jesus. For he says,

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19

What a promise! He tells us that he is filling us with streams and purpose! But we won't find it anywhere but in Him.

So whether your family feels broken or you feel almost meaningless, God is making a way. He is filling you with streams. Sometimes we won't be able to see what he is doing, and we'll feel frustrated or abandoned, but if you believe that God remembers his children, then do not fret.

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine." Isaiah 43:1