6/15/2006

Be Needy

Wednesday: only girls in the house. Pool. Dress up. Painting (no spills). Slip and Slide. Homemade chococolate chip muffins (yuck!). Great Bible study last night--on journaling and sharing your life's story with people...your day by day walk with the Holy Spirit...not just your salvation story. Great plug for blogging!
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Insightful comments yesterday. For today, I'll give my comment by post. I may use the comment section at times, so check for responses. Respond to each other. Great people here.

Anybody pipe in at any time on any verse--I get comments by email no matter where they come on the blog posts. We'll keep moving through the text each day also.

Isa 41:17-20
17 "The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.


WHO is poor and needy?
WHAT is "poor and needy"
Am I "parched" for the right thing?
Do I trust God to answer to my thirst? Do I wait?
Do I know He will not forsake me, even when I am at the deepest point of need?

Poor: someone who cannot afford something necessary to life. Is this just the earthy poor? No. I cannot "afford" God. I do not have the resources to woo him, or the resources to gain his approval or attention.

Needy: ha! Me. Yes! It's scriptural to be "needy!" Go God! "Needy"...someone in need of something. Not just a want. Required to sustain life.

Can we camoflouge needs with other things? Yeah. Isaiah says we put our water in cisterns that don't hold water. A harrowing thought. Even godly priorities can camoflouge our own need to the point that we feel tired and down without realizing why we are empty.

Am I making time to get needy? I need to. This is the essence of Lordship...not just to be "lorded over", but to be in life-sustaining level need of my master.

Even with great priorities, something has to go. Sacrifice is always required to find him.

Thirsty.

Athletes...what CAN you drink to quench thirst? What SHOULD you drink? Why?

He promises to answer and not forsake us for the searching. What do you need to let go of to find time to get in touch with your base level thirst? How often do you need it? (And I'm not looking for the standard answer. Really. How often do you need to let other things go and find him. Sometimes, his work has to take priority over our need...we develop perseverance. How do you pace yourself? If you have something to share...do so.)
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next: I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert in to pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.

What does this verse mean in terms of your life? Are you more inclined to look at it as a promise, or as a challenge? Personally, there are some areas I'd selfishly just like him to leave dead. Do we have to give him permission to redeem things?



6 comments:

Vessel said...

Sometimes I am so thirsty, I don't know I'm thirsty. Does that make sense? You lose the longing for the water and become accustomed to the dry. His words are sips until I feel that deep thirst again,then he floods the valley.

Joan said...

Yes. It makes sense to me. I am not a drinker of water by habit, so I often confuse hunger for thirst. I became aware of this when I married my husband. At the time, he worked outdoors a lot and having water was a consuming occupation for his mother. She spent what seemed an inordinate amount of attention freezing jugs of water for them at night so they'd have cold water out working during the day.

Still...I don't realize my own thirst enough--or satisfy it with sugar and snacks. To pare down to thrist and water is a discipline...but keeps us the most healthy I suppose. I'm going to try it.

PS:"Blogger TIP" Did you know that you can access the posts your comments connect to by clicking on your own blog link in your emails? This makes it easy to respond to people in your comment section.

Kevin Eby said...

"Am I parched for the right thing?"

Well, I confess the answer is "no". This morning, when I stopped at Starbucks, they were unable to give me what I was parched for because they did not have what I should be parched for.

Isn't God's timing hilarious. The nice people at Starbucks were very apologetic to the lines of people receiving coupons for free coffee tomorrow because of the lack of water this morning.

They had no idea why I just laughed and turned away.

Kevin Eby said...

BTW, I still remember the year that I went without caffeine after a mere question from your water drinking husband.

Joan said...

Let me get this straight. Starbucks is out of water...so you don't get your coffee?

You'll enjoy this blog entry: http://www.flowerdust.net/?p=158#comments (I hope that will get you there)

Joan said...

And...he's STILL drinking water. We took his folks out for dinner tonight and all seven of us ordered water.