I woke up on Friday morning to my alarm, and purposefully turned it off. I lay there...thinking about the things that would go on that day..and pondering over my troubles; where are we gonna find the money to travel for the holidays..what if Ethan gives me a hard time this morning and I'm late again...the usual. I picked up my phone and scrolled thru the headlines.
The first one that caught my eye was about a family that had been brutally murdered and stuffed into a hollowed out tree. WHOA! Hold everything! Talk about an instant wake up call to pull me back to the reality of the world around me. Now my thoughts were changing; thank God for my family...I just want to spend one more minute with my son!
I saw another headline about the horrible outbreak of Cholera in Haiti. Over 18,000 people are now affected, and homeless since the earthquake there. I looked around and praised God for the roof over my head, and for the comfortable bed I was laying in.
I think you see where I am going with this. Most days we walk around stuck in our own bubbles..concerned about what others think of us, or how we can fix a mundane annoyance in our lives...but we seldom stop to put ourselves in the shoes of those less fortunate. We are too busy thinking about what is next, and never content with what we are already fortunate to have.
In John 4 an account is told of Jesus sitting by a well. A woman approaches the well to draw water. She is a Samaritan (considered unclean to Jews), and of course, Jesus is Jewish. He asks her to give him a drink. She is confused at the request because she can tell he is Jewish, and asks Jesus why he would even want her to get him water. He replies that if she knew who was asking her for a drink that she would in turn ask for Him to give her a drink.
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Christians are no different that anyone else when it comes to wanting more, however, there is a certain peace and fulfillment that comes when you accept Jesus as your Savior. In those times when I am concerned about how we will be able to afford a trip to Nana's house, I am comforted by the knowledge that God will make provisions for us.
In the same manner, I have come to understand that God allows things to happen to us, that we may not understand, to strengthen us, and mold us into the person He needs us to be. We will all serve a purpose, even if you don't believe in God. In our Christian infancy we are molded thru trials and the pursuit of more of His Spirit. As non-believers, we are molded thru trials that lead us on the path to our reason for being, be it good or bad, or as an example for others.
In longing for the things of this world, we are proving the need for something more. There is a God sized hole in our hearts, and until you fill it, your thirst will never be quenched.
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28
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