Being truly thirsty is not much fun. Flat out parched. When your tongue feels like extra-coarse sandpaper and your throat is begging for relief. Whether we’ve been active in the hot sun or just too busy to remember to drink fluids, I think most of us have experienced being parched.

Some of also understand the desperation of running out of water completely with no backup of sodas, juices, or energy drinks. On a few of my international travels, I’ve come close to running low on drinkable liquids (murky river water sure looks tempting at times like this), but I’ve never been pressed to my limits with thirst. Or, have I?

Rain Pours Nature Another Drink

Nature gets thirsty too. Winter snowmelts do their best to refresh the land and vegetation. Spring rains pour Nature another drink. Yet summer is approaching, and without supplemental hydration, most living plants will shrivel and die.

We shrivel and die too without adequate hydration. According to the Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the adult human body is up to 60% water—the lungs are about 83% water and the kidneys and muscles are roughly 79% water. No wonder my physical therapist friend is always reminding patients, “Drink more water. Drink more water.”

But there is another kind of thirst that I’ve researched. Recently, I ran across one of my favorite sections in the Bible’s book of Isaiah. Its description of the people’s thirst made me swallow hard. “The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst” (Isaiah 41:17).

Drink Deep . . . You’re Worth It

The afflicted and needy, including some of us today, tackle our thirst with things that never truly quench. Success. Relationships. Possessions. To name a few. As much as we guzzle down activity and achievement, even the noble and sacrificial kind, we still can’t fully satisfy the dryness we feel inside. So we look for even more refreshment to satiate our discomfort and keep us hydrated with something pleasurable.

The best part of the Isaiah narrative comes in the following verses. “I, the LORD, will answer them Myself, as the God of Israel I will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the midst of the valleys; and I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land fountains of water.”

Fully engaging in the urgency of his thirsty people, God promises to “answer them Myself.” God says I will pour each of my kids a big tall lemonade with or without ice to their liking.

I wonder what bare heights, wilderness, and dry land in our lives need replenishing right now? If you’re like me, you may be running a bit on empty trudging through the COVID-19 Desert. Are you longing for some unending rivers, springs, and pools of water?

Maybe today is the perfect time to tap into your Creator’s always-full reservoir. Ask the Living Water to refresh from his well that never runs dry. Drink deep. You’re worth every drop.