Satisfy The Longing

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. The woman said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?”  – John 4:10-11

Have you ever been thirsty? Really thirsty? Of all the things there are to drink, there is nothing that satisfies thirst like water,  no matter what the advertisers might tell you. Our bodies are made of 50 to 75 percent water. Did you know that you can only live without water for 3 to 5 days. Did you know that sometimes when we need water, we think we need food so they eat rather than drink. It’s true.

God created us in such a way that the body craves what it needs – but so often – we are mistaken and don’t give our body what is needs – but what it wants. 

St Augustine wrote: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

Blaise Pascal (French mathematician, physicist, religious philosopher, and writer) wrote in his book Pensées (Thoughts): What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”

This emptiness has been described as a God-shaped void. In other words, God designed in us the desire for Himself. It remains a void until it is filled by Him by faith. Man tries to fill it with all things worldly, but cannot – only God can. That is what Jesus was saying to the woman at the well. Her life was a mess. She went to the well in mid-day when no one else was around because of her shame.

“The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly’” – John 4:17-18

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, of the Rolling Stones, wrote the song “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.” The song goes – I try, I try, I try, and I try but I can’t get no satisfaction.... Just like the woman at the well. Jesus saw the void and what she was trying to fill it with in the woman and offered her Living Water – what she needed, and the only thing, that would fill the void – bring satisfaction. You and I see so many broken lives – people who need the Lord. And yet, they refuse the “Living Water”, preferring a substitute that never quenches the thirst – satisfies the soul. I am well aware that I can’t fix people – nor can you – we can only point them to the one who can. They must come face to face with Jesus, as it were – surrender their hearts – allow God to fill the void by faith – and decide to stop trying to fill it themselves.  To do the impossible.  They must be born again.

You may know people like that – we were all like that once upon a time – and we still struggle with the temptation to embrace that which does not satisfy. It is part of our old nature – our flesh – to seek the things of the world as a substitute for spiritual sustenance. We can but speak the truth in love to them, just like Jesus did – not trying to convince the person that what you say is truth – that is the Spirit’s job. Our responsibility is to be ready to give a reason for our faith. To tell others about the Living Water – Who is Jesus.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone