Happy December ! I hope everyone had a GREAT weekend serving Jesus!
This week’s devo is “How Thirsty Are You?” written by Debbie Netterville! Please take the time to read as she shares her heart with us today! I pray you have a blessed week.
How Thirsty Are You? – Debbie Netterville
In August we were in Burlington, Iowa helping a church with Bible Handouts. Saturday night we went out to eat with the pastor and his family. In the middle of the night I woke up and began throwing up. Up and down all night. We thought it was food poisoning. I was unable to go to church all day. I continued throwing up and unable to keep anything down. This lasted a couple more days and I was beginning to get weak. Scott decided we needed to go to the ER. You know how long it takes waiting in the ER. When they finally called my name, they took blood and gave me some meds for nausea.
We spent another day in Burlington, but I was still weak and unable to keep anything down. We decided we wanted to head home to Bourbonnais, Illinois where our home church is and some of our family. We wanted to have family in case we needed help. Wednesday, we drove from Burlington to Bourbonnais, about a 4-hour drive. It was long and miserable for me.
When I would wake up in the morning, I would be so hungry. I could even feel the hunger pangs. I would eat yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal, drink water, 7UP and Pedialyte. I was still unable to keep anything down. I knew I was getting weaker. So again off to the ER in Kankakee. I think it was Friday evening when we went and spent 7 hours waiting. I was so miserable. So again blood work but this time they took x-rays. When they got the results it was not good news.
In fact, they said I was a very sick woman. I thought “oh no”. I had a double hernia with a bowel obstruction. That explains why I was not able to hold anything down. It was around 7:00 am on Saturday when they admitted me to the hospital. I was not allowed to have ANYTHING, no food, drink or even ice chips.
Family and friends were asking “why they didn’t figure it out in Burlington?” I said, “because God allowed us to get home where I could have my family and church family with us.”
Here is when the “thirst” really began. They gave me a “green lollipop”, (that is what I called it.) A green sponge on a stick that I could dip in a glass of water and then just wet my lips. The doctor wanted to wait a couple of days to see if I could hold anything down. On Monday they started giving me some soft foods, but I was throwing up again. My doctor said I needed to have surgery, so they scheduled it for Tuesday. After surgery I could have some ice chips with my “green lollipop”. By this time the ice chips were GREAT! But still barely quenching my “thirst”
As I laid there thinking how thirsty I was I began thinking about “How much do I thirst after God’s Word?
I remember when I first got saved and how I longed to read my Bible. I was thirsting after His Word. How exciting it was to find help from the scriptures. It was a thirsting that
looked forward to every day. “O God, thou art my God early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is:” Ps. 63:
Do we really thirst after the scriptures? “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Matt. 5:6 As we read our Bibles our cup gets filled and we can continue on. We empty ourselves, then we go right back to our source
I remember both times before my cancer surgeries, the first thing I did was open my Bible to try to quench the thirsting of my soul. I needed to get my cup full of His Word to get me through my cancer journey. “…I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: …” II Kings 20:5 This was the verse the Lord gave me for my 1st cancer journey. The next verse for my 2nd journey was “…This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.:” John 11:4
Our physical thirst and spiritual thirst are totally different. But as I would take my “green lollipop” dip it in water and rub my lips I would think of how thirsty I was for a drink of cold water. Then to get my mind off my physical thirst, I would open my Bible to fill my cup with His Word. I needed Him more than anything
How thirsty are you? We need to be drinking daily from His word! “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14.
https://www.sappsolutely.com/devotions/how-thirsty-are-you-debbie-netterville
