Now, while it seems an easy enough solution to just pour a glass of water and drink it, let me assure you, it is not that simple. My water bottle can go anywhere. On the floor, the couch, the swing set. It can't spill or break and it doesn't need a coaster. It is just much harder to tote a glass of water around all day when I am chasing little crazies all over the place.
With all of that being said, my POINT is that without my purple water bottle by my side, I did not drink water all day. I may have had a glass with lunch and dinner, but it was nothing compared to my usual continuous consumption when "old Violet" is around. I was dehydrated.
Despite my dehydration, Danny and I left for our routine weekly run. Within the first few minutes I could tell this was going to be a rough one. My feet felt heavy, my breathing was already labored, and before we even finished the first mile, my muscles were beginning to ache.
I usually love to run. I run between 3 and 6 miles at least 3 days a week and Danny and I run between 5 and 10 miles together once a week on our "date night run". Normally, I feel great when I run. It energizes me. It relaxes me. It makes me feel strong. But not tonight. Tonight I felt weak. Sore. Tired. Tight. Hot. Weary. Defeated. Thirsty.
I needed water. Dehydration has powerful effects on our bodies. Water is essential in order for our bodies to function properly. Without water, we literally cannot survive. Water is critical for maintaining functionality of our brains, heart, lungs, kidneys and muscles. Even a slight drop in our body's water level (2%) and we begin experiencing fatigue, headaches, cramps, decreased concentration, reduced muscular strength and endurance and impaired balance and coordination. Our bodies are made of mostly water and therefore cannot operate without it. We cannot deprive our bodies of their main source of power and expect to be able to function normally.
When we are properly hydrated we are able to thrive and function as we were designed to. We experience a marked increase in our energy level as well as our metabolism. It also improves our memory, digestion, circulation and increases concentration, flexibility, muscle tone and lean muscle mass. Drinking enough water also improves our complexion, builds stronger teeth and bones, decreases fluid retention and suppresses appetite, which can result in weight loss.
It is estimated that 75% of Americans experience mild, chronic dehydration. In fact, we have gotten so accustomed to dehydration, many people are unable to recognize our body's natural thirst cues and often mistake thirst signals for hunger. This results in overeating, which leads to excess weight gain, all the while never addressing the original underlying problem of dehydration. We have become so accustomed to dehydration that we don't even recognize our own body's cries for water! We are attempting to solve the wrong problem. We are consuming the wrong substance. We are worsening our dehydration and allowing our bodies to suffer the consequences because we are ignorant of our own needs.
In John chapter 4, Jesus addresses the Samaritan woman at the well...
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 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.” 15 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.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
The woman at the well was thirsty. She was thirty in a way that she herself did not even realize. But Jesus sees her thirst. He sees her symptoms of dehydration. He sees her failed attempts at solving the problem. This woman has been married five times and is now living with another man to whom she is not even married. She is attempting to satisfy her thirst with these relationships. She is consuming the wrong substance. Attempting to solve the wrong problem. She is worsening her dehydration because she is ignorant of her own needs.
She is thirsty. For purpose. For fulfillment. For truth. For love. But not just ANY old love will do. Not the love of a husband. or five. She is thirsty for the love of a SAVIOR. She is in desperate need of living water.
I would venture to say that far more than 75% of Americans suffer from spiritual dehydration. Christians and non-Christians alike, we all experience the tell-tale signs that indicate our desperate need for a drink of living water. Anxiety. Frustration. Entitlement. Anger. Ungratefulness. Unforgiveness. Selfishness. Emptiness. Pride. These are all signs of spiritual dehydration.
We have grown so accustomed to living with these symptoms that we fail to recognize them for what they truly are. We are ignorant to the REAL problem. We often see these things in our lives and misinterpret them as something else. HUNGER. We think we can feed these symptoms and cure them. So we eat. We feed on revenge, bitterness and jealousy. We seek satisfaction from sex, relationships, work, appearances, money and other indulgences. But at the end of the day, we are still thirsty. We cannot quench our thirst if we do not recognize that we are thirsty. We cannot solve a problem that we do not realize exists. And so our souls continue to ache, to cry out. Our hearts cease to be satisfied and continue to thirst.
We are thirsty for a Savior. We were made by God, in His image (Gen. 1:27), filled with His breath at our creation. He literally breathed life into us (Gen. 2:7). We were made by God, created from God and intended for God and therefore cannot thrive without Him. We cannot expect to deprive our souls of their main source of power and still function normally. There is one thing and one thing only that we quench our thirst. One thing that will fill us and allow us never to thirst again. Jesus.
As a Christian, I have been filled with God's Spirit. The Holy Spirit Himself dwells within me. My power source. My spring of water welling up into eternal life. I have a constant flowing source of strength surging inside of me. I should have no need to return to ANY well ever again. And yet I do. I fail to recognize my thirst. I confuse my symptoms for something else and feed off the wrong substance. I continue to go to wells. Wells filled with material things, physical appearance, the approval of others. I consume and yet I continue to suffer the symptoms of entitlement, frustration, ungratefulness, bitterness, jealousy and anxiety.
I am thirsty. Thirsty for purpose. For fulfillment. For truth. For love. But not just ANY old love will do. Not the love of money. or things. or even my husband. Only the love of Christ will do. It is the ONLY remedy to quench the thirst of a dehydrated soul. The Holy Spirit is the ONLY water that will satisfy my needs and subdue my symptoms.
Everyday I need to hydrate. Not just a glass of prayer with lunch and a sip of a sermon on Sundays. No. That won't do. I need a purple water bottle of Holy Spirit to tote alongside me throughout my day. A slurp each time my children test my patience. A swig when I feel anxious about our finances. A chug or two when my ungrateful, entitled heart begins to rear its ugly head. In order to prevent dehydration, I need to be drinking in the Spirit all day long. Praying without ceasing, reading my Bible, studying scripture and relying on the Holy Spirit to fill me up.
We are all thirsty. Until we acknowledge our thirst and recognize the only water that can quench it, our needs will continue to go unmet. Our souls will continue to suffer the symptoms. Our minds will seek to feed the wrong problem. Unless we are drinking
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