Unshackled Moments ~ March 30, 2018 ~ The Cup That Never Runs Dry

There are many things and many ways we attempt to fill our lives and meet our own needs. We are born with an innate need for relationship with our Creator. Some describe this need as a God-shaped hole in our life. Before meeting that need in the only one who can truly fill it, we try to meet it in other ways. Sometimes, even after entering into relationship with God, we try to satisfy our longings in other ways.

Some of us try to satisfy our souls, quiet our fears and insecurities, enhance the good and numb or distract from the bad with chemicals such as alcohol and drugs. Some look to people, to approval and praise, to relationships or sex. Some look to comfort in food, or material things. Some seek a rush through gambling, risk taking or porn. Some may use a combination of these things or something else entirely. The truth is that many of the things that we try to use as the solution to our distress and emptiness are not always in and of themselves bad things. Some are good in their right purpose and usage, some are good in moderation, and, yes, there are some that are never anything but destructive. But all become destructive when used improperly and when we place them in our lives as a substitute for relationship with Daddy.

So why do we do it? For one thing, they work. At least to a point, and at least for a while. No alcoholic became such because alcohol did nothing for them. It changed the way we felt. It made us feel better or numbed us. It loosened us up and quieted our fears. It did many things that we saw or experienced as positives. At first. Only later, when it ceased to work or when the negative consequences outweighed the positive and still we could not stop did we discover our bondage. After losing everything and then trying yet again to regain what was lost through the same process that caused the deficit, the gambling addict learns he is a slave. You get the idea. No matter how well our little-g gods work for us and satisfy us, they do so at a great cost. And the satisfaction always comes to a bitter end tainted with misery and shame. But we are driven to continue to seek, because something within us knows that there is something out there that satisfies and leads to contentment.

There is. Jesus is the cup that doesn't run dry. He is the answer to our thirst, and those who drink from Him find their need quenched. Jesus described Himself as the living water which will permanently end our thirst. When we find our satisfaction in Him, our satisfaction is no longer fleeting. What an awesome joy! Jesus never runs out. He is always enough. If we become dissatisfied again, we will find upon reflection that we once again turned to people or something other than Jesus to meet our needs, to bring satisfaction and security. Those who put their trust in Him are never brought to shame, meaning that their trust is never misplaced. Jesus can and will always provide what we need to have a life worth living, and the positive results of relationship with Him always outweigh any perceived negatives. We don't have to keep trying things or returning to things that do not work or lead to destruction and death. There is a solution to the emptiness within that does not fail. It is in relationship with Daddy, empowered, comforted and transformed by the Spirit through the work of Jesus on our behalf. We can always count on it, and we can always go deeper in to the presence and relationship with God when we feel dissatisfied. We do not need anything else. More of Jesus is always the direction that will lead to life worth living.

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