Jesus answered, “I am the way the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 NIV

I love to be encouraged but more importantly I need a purpose for living.  I work with the public and I am saddened sometimes by what I see.  I see those who are lost, depressed and who have no hope.  Often I try to give words of encouragement, some I pray for, and others I just try to make laugh.  But the truth of the matter is, without Jesus I offer them no real solution.  We are all somewhere in life where we simply need the truth.  

Whoever lives in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. John 7:38 NIV

I used to be there; lost and looking for something, anything that I could grab a hold to and call “my purpose for living.”   I was all over the place.  One moment I was happy, the next sad, and the next mad.  

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching… Ephesians 4:14a NIV

One day I got so fed up with my life, I asked my mom, “How do you stop doing something you don’t want to do anymore?”  She acted as if I had asked a great philosophical question.  So much so, she pondered it for quite a while.  I was ready for her answer when she spoke softly and said, “Ria, when you get tired of being tired, you will just stop.”  “Is that it?!” I thought to myself.  “After all that pondering, that’s what the answer is?”  I sat and looked at her waiting for her to expand on her statement.  She didn’t.  That was it.  Now here’s the thing, I never forgot it.  It was simple but true.  I had to get tired of what I was doing, tired of ending up in the same place, and tired of not getting any results.  “Tired of being tired.”  I had finally come to that point, the end of myself.  

We all have it.  The point when we realize that we have a void that only God can fill.  That no matter how much money, how much fame, how much anything, He’s the only one created for that space in us.  The place where only He can reside and quench our thirst with His Living Water.  

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” John 4:10 NIV

It’s been a few decades since that day in my mom’s kitchen.  The day where I learned that life is so much simpler than what I thought it was.  I had chased everything and still I was empty.  

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
Heavenly Father, Thank You for refreshing my soul.  You help to guide me along right paths and Your burden is light.  You are living water to a thirsty soul.  I am forever thankful for You sending Your Son, Jesus Christ to be my hope in a dark world.  Your Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light on my path.  In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Maria Drayton

Writer and Author of "The King and I: Steps for living in today's world through Intimacy with the Lord"
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