“PARCHED”

What is that feeling rolling up deep inside me? How can I describe the raw emptiness that’s clawing inside me that thirsts for relief, connection, and satisfaction? It feels like a desolate landscape where everything around me has dried up, become weathered and brittle. There is no life in this desolate region of my soul.

My enemies have drained all of the life out of me and left me in the desert of loneliness and despair to wither away without them caring if I survive or not. I am on my own to make it or not.

A life of rejection and isolation is my new existence. Reaching out becomes futile. No one cares. In the chaotic froth of humanity that surrounds me, I am being pushed down, submerged in the depths of isolation, drowning now in the parched atmosphere of seclusion and dejection. I cry out for love and acceptance, but my cries fall on deaf ears. It is therefore a quiet, almost motionless drowning event, just like most drowning events are to the surprise of the witnesses, but not the victim. No one bears witness, no one cares that I am slipping away quietly into the depths of one of the unseen black holes of the universe where I will exist no more.

The dry, parched environment from lack of love, lack of caring and concern, lack of the life-sustaining elements has taken over every aspect of my existence. How can I escape from this ever-tightening, unrelenting straightjacket bound around me to find replenishment for my heart, mind, and soul?

I must escape!! I must find a glimmer of hope! Where, oh, where is that tiny flicker that says someone cares about me? Where is my rescuer that will grab my hand and lead me out of this drowning from parchness so I can rejoin the living once again? I looked in the churches surrounding me, but all I found were people and leaders fighting over money, politics, and influence; practicing exclusion, while hypocritically evangelizing inclusiveness. I ran away from their pleading to join them. I want no part of this organized religion hypocrisy!

Once I stopped running, I turned around and there He was. I looked again at the man before me and saw the smooth, strong hand beckoning me to take hold. In His other hand I saw a cup of what looked like cool water; the libation of “living water” for my parched soul that would restore life to my waning existence. Here before me, was my Savior, my God, the One person who loves me, cares about me, and gives me hope and provisions to sustain my life.  Jesus Christ, my Lord, was my connection to a renewed life.

Connecting with Jesus Christ was the only way I found relief from the parchness of my life experiences that were trying to isolate me and confine me to the deserts of loneliness, hopelessness, melancholy, and lifeless desolation. His is the only “living water” that guarantees eternal salvation where I will never “thirst” again because my thirst for unconditional love and acceptance is fully satisfied in Him. Taking His hand and drinking in His cup of “living water”, my heart, mind, and soul are now swimming in His waters of tranquility and peace. I have been freed and I have been saved. Praise the Lord, my rescuer!

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” [John 16:33] While on earth, Jesus shared many similar “parchness” experiences from fellow Jews, Gentile followers, and even His own disciples. Nevertheless, through His love for us all, He conquered the “parchness” and restored our living relationship with God. Jesus is the answer to our human troubles. Like a “bridge over troubled waters”, stay focused on Him.

Live, Love, and Grow in Jesus!!

Blessings,

Jerry