"How are you?"
I'm asked this question many times a day, but I haven't delved into the truth lately. 'Cause the truth is, there are only a few people I want to be that honest with. And those I generally share the depths with are wading through challenges. Fill to capacity, they need a place to pour out.
Cupped hands catch their words, worries, wants. Until my hands are heavy.
I'm weary from taking in and not pouring myself out in return. I understand that they don't have it to give right now. Yet hour upon hour of listening...I'm not sure I have it to give either. I cannot pour our refreshment that is not there.
I'm completely full, yet totally empty.
And so I check out in the name of self-preservation and retreat into myself, away from their words weighted with pain and trouble and questions. I distance my being from all words-until THE Word beckons me with cupped hands large enough to hold my needy soul.
He asks the three words my parched soul thirsts for: "How are you?"
° I'm weary. "I'm your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand" (Isaiah 41:10).
° I feel alone. "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
° I can't take much more. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
I pour out, He pours in. An ebb and flow as natural as the ocean's tides. My soul needs His words, needs Him: THE Word.
Friends and family will come and go. Hence our soul's deepest need: friendship with the unchanging Word, Jesus.
Will you take His cupped hand that is reaching out to hold you, your cares, your friends, your family members? Take His hand and walk with Him, the Word. Pour your truthful answers into Him and pour yourself into the fields of Scripture. Refreshment awaits. He's asking, "How are you?" -Samantha Reed
{Psalm 42:1-11}
1 As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?
3 Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
“Where is this God of yours?”
4 My heart is breaking
as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
amid the sound of a great celebration!
5 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and
6 my God!
Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.
7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8 But each day the lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.
9 “O God my rock,” I cry,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
oppressed by my enemies?”
10 Their taunts break my bones.
They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
11 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!
{John 4:13-14}
13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.
14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
{Ephesians 3:16-19}
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
I'm asked this question many times a day, but I haven't delved into the truth lately. 'Cause the truth is, there are only a few people I want to be that honest with. And those I generally share the depths with are wading through challenges. Fill to capacity, they need a place to pour out.
Cupped hands catch their words, worries, wants. Until my hands are heavy.
I'm weary from taking in and not pouring myself out in return. I understand that they don't have it to give right now. Yet hour upon hour of listening...I'm not sure I have it to give either. I cannot pour our refreshment that is not there.
I'm completely full, yet totally empty.
And so I check out in the name of self-preservation and retreat into myself, away from their words weighted with pain and trouble and questions. I distance my being from all words-until THE Word beckons me with cupped hands large enough to hold my needy soul.
He asks the three words my parched soul thirsts for: "How are you?"
° I'm weary. "I'm your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand" (Isaiah 41:10).
° I feel alone. "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
° I can't take much more. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
I pour out, He pours in. An ebb and flow as natural as the ocean's tides. My soul needs His words, needs Him: THE Word.
Friends and family will come and go. Hence our soul's deepest need: friendship with the unchanging Word, Jesus.
Will you take His cupped hand that is reaching out to hold you, your cares, your friends, your family members? Take His hand and walk with Him, the Word. Pour your truthful answers into Him and pour yourself into the fields of Scripture. Refreshment awaits. He's asking, "How are you?" -Samantha Reed
{Psalm 42:1-11}
1 As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?
3 Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
“Where is this God of yours?”
4 My heart is breaking
as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
amid the sound of a great celebration!
5 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and
6 my God!
Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.
7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8 But each day the lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.
9 “O God my rock,” I cry,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
oppressed by my enemies?”
10 Their taunts break my bones.
They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
11 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!
{John 4:13-14}
13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.
14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
{Ephesians 3:16-19}
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
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