“Mom, can I take a bath in your bathroom?” my son asked, when he was about seven. “There’s no hot water left in my bathroom.”
I tried to explain that all of our hot water comes from the same place, but he insisted that my bathroom’s water is always hot. So I shrugged and said, “Sure. You can take a bath in my tub.”
From the next room, I heard him call, “I knew it! Your water is hot!” Then a few seconds later, he said, “Oh, no! This one turned cold, too.”
I chuckled to myself, then told him again that all of our house’s hot water comes from the same place.
Obviously, it didn’t sink in because he said, “Mom, could I get buckets of hot water and pour them in the tub?” When I asked where he would get the hot water for the buckets, he suggested the kitchen sink. So I tried once more to explain that all of the faucets in our house get their hot water from the same place.
I said, “It’s in the storage room, Bud. That big tank next to your train table? That’s the hot water heater. All the hot water comes from there.”
I don’t think he was listening though, because a moment later, he said exasperatedly, “Oh, fine. I’ll just take a shower.”
Empty Bucket Laid Down
Eventually my son stopped running from faucet to faucet. He decided to just be still and wait. But not until he recognized that all of the faucets in our house have the same source.
God is the source of all things warm and cozy and comfortable. All good gifts come from him. But like children who keep running to various faucets in a house, most of the people on this great big planet are scrambling from one place to the next, trying to discover a ‘faucet’ that will finally pour out enough of what they’re craving. They have no idea that all ‘faucets’ can be traced back to one source: God.
Is this true of you?
Are you chilled by the world’s harshness and craving the warmth of belonging?
Do you feel dirty from sin, and long for a cleansing soak?
Are you thirsty for a relationship that will finally satisfy your thirst?
God wants you to come to Him. Not a new guy or TV show or shopping mall. HIM.
If you’re willing to open your life to God for the first time, here’s a post that I pray will be helpful. But if you’ve already turned to God, could it be that you’ve drifted? Perhaps he is shutting off a faucet or two, to invite you back into his presence and fellowship.
The Source I Long For
Until I finally recognize that God is the source of all I long for, I won’t be content to sit down and quietly wait. I’ll keep searching and striving and running to and fro with my bucket, with ever deepening exasperation. But here’s what warms my heart: God is waiting for me.
He wants to be enough for me. He wants to drench my heart with everything I need. He wants to satisfy my soul. He created every single longing that I feel to teach me something about Him, or send me running to Him. He wants to satisfy me with Himself.
“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” Rom. 11:36