“Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” – Proverbs 25:25
Water. We all need it. We can’t live without it. We need it to survive. We need it to thrive.
What if you didn’t have water?
You wouldn’t thrive. You wouldn’t even survive.
Like water to our physical bodies is the living water of Jesus Christ to our souls.
“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – John 4:13-14
I originally drafted this post before my first ever missions trip to South Africa. I continued to write the following–
I have never been on a mission trip before. And I won’t lie to you: I am a bit terrified.
I know this trip will stretch me beyond my comfort zone. I know my body has limitations and that those will be pushed. And I’ll be really honest with you: I like the cozy comforts of my home and my comfortable life here in LA.
But we are not called to be cozy. We are not called to be comfortable. We are called to live radical lives that radically proclaim the love and truth of Jesus Christ to this world. He calls us to be His hands and His feet. He calls us to take up our cross. And He calls us to follow Him.
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation…” – Isaiah 52:7
“I want to be Your hands. I want to be Your feet. I’ll go where You send me.” – Audio Adrenaline, Hands and Feet
I may have my doubts, hesitations, and limitations. But I have something that far outweighs them all: I have the truth, confidence, and strength that can only be found in the source of my relationship with the One who quenches the thirst of my often weak and weary soul.
I know that Jesus has the power and ability to sustain me throughout the duration of this trip (Psalm 55:22, Isaiah 46:4, 1 Cor. 1:8). I know that in my weakness, His power is made perfect (2 Cor. 12:19). And I know that because of Him, when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor. 12:10).
. . .
I think of these words I wrote — this truth — and how not only did it apply to the missions trip on which I was about to embark, it applies to all of life right now.
If you think about it, really all our lives here on this earth are a “missions trip” of sorts. We are really just here for a short time on assignment to bring glory to His Kingdom and to share His love with others. And we are not unlike those who need to hear the good news of the Gospel. We need to hear it over and over again.
I think about the fears, doubts and insecurities I have just in my daily life, and I am convicted by these words. For the truth in those passages referenced above applies just as much to my daily life as it does to when God calls me overseas. He has the power and ability to sustain me, in my weakness His power is made perfect, and because of Him when I am weak then I am strong.
And oh how I need daily reminders of this truth. Let us remind each other of it always.
I praise God for being our living water that washes over our souls, wave after wave, cleansing us and making us holy, time and time again. May His water become in us, as Jesus said in John 4:14, a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
