Psalm 143:8 “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”
My soul cries out for something each and every day, and I used to think that if I got what I really needed from my husband, my children, my job, my friends and my family, that my soul would be satisfied, that I would have peace and I would be content. I would think, if only my husband would meet my needs, if only my children would be obedient, if only I didn’t have to work so many hours at a stressful job, if only my friends would be more available, if only my family would really understand me and be sensitive to my needs, then I would be okay. But in reality, when I look at the scriptures and I see David, I realize that he was constantly pleading to the Lord to fill up his empty soul; he would fervently appeal to God’s character and passionately cry out in his discouragement and in the midst of his trials, and He would ask God to hear his prayer for mercy and answer him quickly because his spirit was failing within him, and his soul thirsted like a parched land. David understood what his soul thirsted for; his soul, just like ours, thirsts for the Living God and the everlasting river of Living Water which is the only thing that can quench the thirsty soul.
Shortly before He went to the cross, Jesus told his disciples, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” I used to wonder why the Lord allowed such deep dark valleys to occur in my life, and yet I look around and it seems like everyone I know is going through some sort of huge trial or a season of incredible difficulty. I believe God allows trials and tribulations to occur in my life to draw me closer to Him. Whenever I start to feel discouraged or distressed, I can let my pain and sorrow overwhelm me and allow my circumstances to create in me a bitterness and resentment toward God and toward other people, or I can allow the Holy Spirit to be my soul vitamin, to allow Him to give me the spiritual nutrients I need that are crucial for me to move forward in boldness and confidence. I find it very interesting that it is in the midst of trials and deep dark valleys that I grow the most spiritually. It is never during the easy days of life where the wind is gently blowing and I’m enjoying the comfort and sunshine all around me in the green pastures, that I turn to the Lord with an overwhelming need to fill my parched and thirsty soul.
Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.” Serenity is another word for peace and it is something we all long for, but it isn’t acquired through other people being kind to me, through my husband meeting my needs or my children being obedient. Where do we find this peace? We find peace trusting in God. We find it focusing on His goodness and not on our circumstances. Moodiness and discontentment are nearly always rooted in some physical circumstance, not in our true inner self. It is a continual struggle within me not to allow my sin nature to win out, not to listen to my emotions that arise out of my physical condition or from my situation and circumstance. 1 Samuel 30:17 says, “David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day,” and that is exactly what the Lord calls us to do at times. Even though God promises us victory, at times we are simply required to battle discouragement and discontentment by prayer and through God’s Word which will give us a continuous dose of persistence and perseverance to fill up our thirsty soul.
– Melody
