Thirst

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.


He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.
—Matthew 4.2

          Fasting, I confront my desires.
          I follow them and they lead me
          inward into my wilderness.

The people complained against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?"
—Exodus 17.3

          Too often it is only through suffering,
          through struggle and want,
          that I find what I seek,
          and who I am.

God opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.
—Psalm 105.41

          You provide what I need,
          not what I crave,
          and not where I expect it.

God humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
—Deuteronomy 8.3

          A deeper thirst yearns beneath my wants.
          I befriend my temptations,
          without surrendering to them,
          until they show me what they are hiding.

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
—Psalm 42.1-2

          This holy thirst is not a weakness;
          it is my salvation. It never fails me.
          It is You, drawing me nearer.

"Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."
—John 4.15

          May my soul's thirst flood my body's;
          May I never lose my overwhelming
          craving for you.

When Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty."
—John 19.28

          My thirst for You takes me
          to places of compassion:
          when others thirst
          my mouth is dry.

The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.
—John 4.14

          One thirsty gulp of Your grace
          lasts me forever,
          gushing up from within me
          for life.

          God, today I am happy
          to be hungry and thirsty
          for you.


Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve

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Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net