The Living Water

This morning I was reading from Psalm 42. Verses 1-2 say:

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"

This captures my cry to God at the moment. My prayer is not simply for healing, but for presence - my hope is not set so much on the healing of the Lord as on the presence of the Lord, because that is where the power and grace is, and ultimately also the healing! Each day I'm experiencing more and more of the Lord, yet there is still a driving "thirst" for him! There is a "panting" of the soul, a "thirsting" for the living God.

It's hard to describe really. I know that in John 4:14, Jesus said:

"...whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst."

On one level, that is true. As far as my need for salvation is concerned, this is has totally been quenched by the Spirit of God! I don't have this constant "thirst" to find the answer to life. Yet at the same time, the Bible also describes an almost visceral longing for more of the Lord.

It's amazing how many times the Bible describes our desire for God in terms of the natural need for food and water. In Matthew 5:6, Jesus said: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." 1 Peter 2:2-3 says, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." John 7:37 says: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink." Revelation 22:17 says: "Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." In John 4:34, Jesus says: "My food...is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."

And in a previous post, I quoted Matthew 4:4:

"...Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

This parallel between natural eating and drinking is important. It shows that our experience with the Lord is designed by him to be:

• Necessary (in other words, it is not optional)
• Daily (in other words, it is not occasional)

Since I've been diagnosed with cancer (and even before, since my primary symptoms began over a year ago), I've been addressing my natural eating and drinking habits. Elena, for example, has given me a strict "water regimen". She's created a daily "water chart" to make sure that I am drinking enough fluid. We have selected from a range of foods and nutritional supplements to help the body strengthen. Even though the Lord is my Healer, I also have a responsibility to my own body to make sure that it is equipped for the fight. But as important as this physical level is, the spiritual level is just as important.

In fact, one thing has become clear to me during this crisis. God is at work on two levels:

1. The physical - which involves healing
2. The spiritual - which involves maturing

I cannot affort to neglect either, nor favour one over the other. I need nutrition for both. And so I'll end with the same quotation from Psalm 42:1-2:

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"