Quenched

For I will give you abundant water to quench your thirst and to moisten your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit and my blessings on your children.  They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank. (Isaiah 44:3-4)

Empty, dry, deserted.  Sometimes my spirit feels exhausted.  It happens when I pour myself out.  It happens when I am faced with an extreme situation.  But it often happens when the winds of life pick me up and I don't step foot on the ground for what feels like an eternity.  Daily life can wring me dry.  But when I remember my First Love and run to his refuge, I am quenched.  My parched, dry, weary heart is filled again, and I know.  I know that I am loved, cared for, planned for, and overwhelmed by refreshment.  
Sometimes, I even think that God wants us to realize our desert-state.  Then, we really realize our need for him and when we are quenched by him...

But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her out into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. (Hosea 2:14)

my desert

I am so tired. This school year has worn me out.

I know what David means when he says that he's "travelled across dry and weary deserts." This year, I have experienced some of my most lonely times and my most devastating emotions. I have lost "friends" that I thought I had, I have had nightmares like never before, and I have had my eyes open to a part of sin that I wish I had never ever seen.

But, as awful as it may sound, it has been the greatest year of my life.

I have had the chance this year to learn about my God. I am amazed. He is this water that cleanses, redeems, and refreshes me. Through all of my lonliness and pain and confusion, He is constant. He has taught me to love like I never have before. His love may be heavy, but it is amazing. He overwhelms me with His grace and His desire for me. I really have been in the desert. But my thirst and emptiness only makes God that much more real to me. Through my walk alongside Him this year, I have realized my desires, and His desires for my life. And I have had the chance to bring Him glory, which I have found to be the most fulfilling achievement I ever could make.

It's like this... By becoming desolate and desperate, I have found all I ever could need.