Cool Water in a Weary Land

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Read Psalm 63:1

Every Tuesday, I send a pastoral care report to the staff at FBCD, in preparation for staff meeting and to let the other ministers know how to be in prayer for our communities (FBCD and SBBC). At the end of my report, I include tips on caring for ourselves while we care for others; and very often I will say “hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!”

Water is life, and as the days get hotter, it is imperative that we remember to drink water. Because it is so important, water is often used as a metaphor for life or sustenance in scripture. Jesus called himself the living water, and in this verse from Psalm 63, the Psalmist writes “my soul thirsts for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” 

What does your soul thirst for today? Mine is thirsty for peace. Empathy and compassion seem to run dry these days, and weariness in the hearts and souls of God’s deeply loved children is discouraging and painful to see. God’s presence, says the Psalmist, is like a cool drink of water on a hot day, where no rain or hope of a cool breeze lies in sight. Just picture any July or August day in the south and you can feel how deeply comforting this image is.

What does your soul thirst for today? Rest? Comfort? Normalcy? Whatever you are thirsting for, the presence of God is with you always; and is promised to you if you only draw near to God and open your heart to the ways God wants to speak to you and quench your soul. 

Thanks be to God, for a cool drink of water in a dry and weary land.

Sara Robb-Scott, Pastor for Senior Adults and Pastoral Care, First Baptist Church Decatur

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