Nov. 23, Psalm 114.

I know this thought is out of order. I am writing not because I am reading it but because I am living it. It is taken from thoughts I had when I read it earlier this month and now has come to bring some relief in my own life. That is partly why my blog has been quiet. I am a little under inspired.

Blessings

Normally I like things dry. I like my clothes dry. I like my hair dry. Most people probably think I like my skin dry. I like the dry season during the year more than the rainy season. I prefer the dry, arid places on the earth over the wet, humid, marshy places. I visited a rain forest on top of a volcano called Mumbacho in Nicaragua a few years ago. It was a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. It is continuously wet. I don’t think I have ever had a martini, wet or dry so I can’t comment about that. Maybe some of the more sophisticated readers of this blog could comment on the difference between wet and dry Martinis. I do enjoy butter on my toast, however, and nothing is better than sitting on a longboard in the ocean on a sunny day, so I break with the whole dry theme in regards to toast and the beach. I do understand the need for moisture, though. In fact I just received a report from my doctor with the results of my most recent physical. Somehow the report knows and shows that I like dry. In the report my doctor says I need to drink more water. Something to do with my kidneys and how they work which I don’t understand. There are many things, if not almost all things, in this life we can go without for long periods, but water is not one of them. And I am no scientist, as my kidney comment reveals, but I think of all the things we can’t go with out, water is probably the one we need most. For some it is probably a toss up between water and sleep. Maybe we should have a contest. Have you ever noticed, though, how when you are under hydrated you get tired and sleepy? Next time you are getting sleepy in the after noon, skip the martini and have a big glass of water. It will perk you right up. There is something about water that causes our bodies to function as God intended for them to function. We have been created with a built in hydration maintenance seeking system. It is called thirst. When we get dry our very existence is threatened and our survival instincts take over. Everything else, anything else is secondary to the need for water. Our thirst becomes all consuming. One thing I have learned as a leader of cross-cultural teams is not to take clean drinking water for granted. And it is interesting but understandable that usually one of the main questions people ask when inquiring about cross-cultural trips is, “What do we do about water?” Thirst is one of their first concerns.

When it comes to my spiritual life however, I don’t like dry. Dry times in the spirit are hard times. Those are times when I don’t feel connected to God or others; days that I don’t want to see any one or do much of anything. During times like those my doubts rage, I wonder if God knows what he is doing or even cares. I question my past, present and future and wonder about my purpose, my existence. Why does he allow days, weeks, seasons like those in my life. I am confused. They are hard. They make me thirst for meaning, for purpose, for God. That is good.

In Psalm 114, the psalmist is celebrating the Glory God displayed when he led his people out of Egypt. God spoke and incredible things happened. The sea fled (parted). The Jordan River turned back (backed up). Mountains skipped (rejoiced). Yeah, sign me up for all that. But there is a phrase that indicates not everything was easy. In fact, if you remember or reread the story it became quite difficult. God led them to and through some dry places. Think about it. There were probably several million people who were involved in this exodus from Egypt and parade through the (keyword) desert. It was dry. They needed water; lots of it and often. Really they needed assurance that God was leading this thing. Water would do that. God led them to thirst. And he led them in such a way so he could show them that only he could satisfy their thirst. He led them to hard places. Verse 8 says, “(He turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.” At this dry, hard place God caused water, enough to satiate the thirst of millions, to gush forth out of a rock. He showed that he was there and that he cared.

I am learning that whenever I am in a hard place; a dry place, God is there and I am there to learn that He is what I need. And how I wish I was as sensitive and obedient to my spiritual hydration seeking system as I am to my physical one.

Just a thought.