Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Fill 'er Up

My dog has put his foot down (I mean, paw) about something and it doesn't look like he's budging on this. Harry has decided he will not drink water from the tap. Our water is from a well, and maybe he can smell the minerals or the residue of clay in the water. Either way, he has decided that when we fill up his water bowl he is not going to partake of it.

Instead, he goes to the door something-like twenty times a day, begging to be let out so that he can...eat snow. That's his beverage of choice. Fresh snow. White fluffy snow. Anything but tap water in his bowl.

Now I don't know what he is going to do when Spring comes and the snow melts. He may decide to rescind his strange gourmet taste for snow and go back to tap water in the bowl. He will have to. Because I am not importing snow for him just so that he is not thirsty.There's plenty of water right at hand. He drank it before winter came with its fluffy snow to partake of, and he will drink it again when the snow has melted.

I think I am perturbed with Harry because his fussiness reminds me of myself. Every time I start to tell God I am in need, He asks me if I've had a drink of His living water. When I want to recount my problems or my challenges, He just hears me tell Him I'm thirsty for more of Him. He knows when I am thirsty before I even do. And His offer of refreshing water still stands. "... 'Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart’” John 7:37,38.

It's not that His Word and His presence do not satisfy us. They do. It's that I generally, initially, want other things first: I want answers, I want miracles, I want evidence of His working on my behalf. When I'm done telling Him what I want, He then tells me what I need: You're thirsty, Lauren. You want Me. You want a drink of Me.

So I take a drink of His goodness. Sometimes I don't like the initial taste of the living water. I can be fussy, like a colicky baby. But even if water tastes like river rock or tastes like clay, it still quenches my thirst. That's the whole point of sipping it,gulping it down, swirling it around our mouth and swallowing. We need water. We are so thirsty. Continually thirsty. And thank God for that- because then I remember the answer for my continual thirst, I need you, Lord. I need You.

6 comments:

twinklemom said...

Lol..has your dog been talking to mine? If so, I'm SO sorry, mine is a bit spoiled...well..I say a bit...but actually a LOT..Lol

Wonderful and inspiring post..I love it!

Angie said...

Wonderful analogy.

I insist that you buy Harry some fine Canadian bottle water!

Amy Wyatt said...

I was just thinking about the thirsty thing this morning as my 4 year old screamed from the back seat the entire way to take her brother to school that she was thirsty. Never mind that she had just had chcolate milk before leaving the house or that I told her as soon as her brother was at school, we would stop and get something. I even offered her the bottle of water that was in the car. (Which was cold because the temp. was cold outside.)She wanted what she wanted and not what I offered her. She wasn't even willing to wait on what she wanted. How like us...we don't want the living water Christ offers and we aren't willing to wait on him to give us our desires. This must be theme for me today. Thanks for sharing and making me think some more.

mariel said...

amen! Great post...praise the Lord for meeting our needs rather than our 'wants'!!
Your dog is hilarious, though!! :)

LAUREN at Faith Fuel said...

Angie-
Harry says thank you for advocating on his behalf! He's also like to request some gourmet dog biscuits as well, and his own butler to wait on him- but that's not gonna happen, is it?! :)

Amy- Love your story. (Harry is my demanding toddler!)

Mariel- Oh, he's hilarious alright. He's a hoot. You should see him cover his eyes with his paws when he's feeling bashful. I'm serious!

LAUREN at Faith Fuel said...

Twinkle- What kind of spoiled dog do you have?