Thirsty?

"Surely God is my salvation;
       I will trust and not be afraid.
       The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
       he has become my salvation."

With joy you will draw water

       from the wells of salvation.  Isaiah 12:2-3

The trouble with taking Isaiah a chapter at a time and spotlighting random verses is that sometimes you miss the flow.  But for now, we'll deal with it!  Isaiah has told the people that after the Messiah comes, they will praise God.  They will be saying the words above. 

You know, so often we go about our business, doing our stuff, and completely miss the things that God is doing around us.  We might scoff at how the Jews - both then and now - completely miss the Messiah, right in front of them.

But I know I do the same thing.  It's been a long time since I have had joy, and with that joy, drawn water from the well of salvation.  I miss God, even though He's right in front of me.  The good news is that Isaiah has told me exactly what to do!

Let's break it down, shall we?  Well (pardon the pun) . . . let's remember that water is life.  Nothing can sustain life without water.  No planet, no plant, no person --- everything needs water to survive.  And not just to survive, but to thrive! 

So to draw water from the well of salvation means to draw life.   And just as we, in our homes, had to find sources of water from which we could drill our wells . . . God is the same.  To draw water from the well of salvation means to constantly be returning to God, to drink in Him, to allow Him to restore us, to refresh us, to rebuild us.

But sometimes we're so busy, we just miss it.  And then we get tired, and sick, and run down.  We find ourselves searching for life, for meaning, and end up realizing that we had it all along, right beside us. 

Psalm 51 prays, "Restore to me the joy of my salvation."  Sometimes we lose it.  But all we have to do is return to the well, and find joy once again.