Thirst

I gaze at my glass of water and am grateful for yesterday.  Yesterday, Mother’s Day, when my youngest son was baptized.

Just like my hands slip as I hold the dewy outside of my perspiring drink, I cannot fully grasp the meaning of his baptism. I am aware of the mystery of it all, of God choosing my son to be adopted into Christ, and of Luke obeying that call.

What I cannot grasp is how, and why, and what is to come. It feels fragile to me and yet more sure than anything. We are weak, and He is strong.

I see the drops on my glass dissipate, evaporating in the afternoon sunshine. And I wonder what is next for Luke in this journey of faith, this washed-clean start in a dirty world. 

I think back to what else I learned yesterday about water. About the Israelites quarreling with Moses, accusing him and God both for bringing them into the wilderness to die of thirst.

And Moses crying out to the Lord who answers: “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” (Exodus 17:6)

God Himself stands on the rock, the rock that is stricken!

And Psalm 78 describes what happens next: “He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.” (vv. 15-16)

How the same God who led them into the wilderness became their water when they thirsted nigh unto death. How that water was abundant.

How what He asks of us, where he leads us, He provides. Even if we get really thirsty along the way.

On this day after Mother’s Day, I think about the wilderness that might lie ahead for my sons as Christ followers. I realize that I want them to thirst, to be in this wilderness, so that they can learn that only Christ satisfies.

I know that what I long for them might involve pain and sacrifice and giving up lucrative careers or safety or healthcare or reputation to follow Jesus. It might mean I suffer too, that I weep over what my boys will face.

But I long for them to thirst in this wilderness, because where God leads them, He is. In abundance.

And to be baptized, to make the public profession of a commitment to follow Christ, is just one step closer to that wilderness.

I am grateful for water today. I pray for my boys, this day after Mother’s Day, that they will thirst. And I pray that I wouldn’t get in the way.

Hope and Be.Longing