OMG I'm Thirsty!!

It is very rare that I sweat. It's also very rare that I feel thirsty. It's weird, I know that now, but for so long I had no idea that it was a bad thing.

I was on my couch a few years ago, coupled with pain. I laid on the couch for about six months before any doctors or I could figure out what the heck was wrong with me. Yeah ok, so I know there is much wrong with me...but we'll save that for another time. ;) So anyway, one day I heard of this online holistic doctor and clinic. For a minute I thought what you are probably thinking right now...oh boy. But honestly, no one else could help me. I had every test, procedure and blood work done to no avail. So I called.

This doctor went through a list of questions for me. Many of them the typical background kind of questions. But then he asked me something that none of the other doctors had asked me. "Do you drink water?"

"No." No was my answer. He proceeded to tell me how much water my size body needed to drink EVERY SINGLE DAY. I was like, "What? You have got to be kidding me!?" I'm thinking, "I would drown if I drank that much water." This doctor couldn't believe that I hardly ever drank anything. I went on to tell him that I just don't feel thirsty. In my mind, why would I drink something if I wasn't thirsty? I didn't think about drinking water or much else and I didn't crave it so I guess I figured I didn't need it. APPARENTLY I was slightly uninformed.

My body was shutting down. I had been dehydrated for so long, my organs were now paying the price for the lack of water, the very thing I needed to sustain my life. The doctor told me something I will NEVER forget. He said, "You're body has become a desert. When you stopped giving yourself water it jumped into survival mode." We all know that deserts are for the most part, lifeless. There is very little alive and that which is alive is dry, prickle and colorless. I had deprived my body of water for so long, it survived as long as it could as a desert but as no relief came it began to shut down.

But, it wasn't too late for me, he said. Not if I made the initiative to fix the problem. The solution is quite easy. He went on to tell me that if I wanted to be healthy I needed to make my body feel thirsty. I had to condition it to desire water. In other words, I needed to drink to make my body realize it needed a drink. Once my body got used to having the water it needs (to flush out toxins and to hydrate the 90% of my body that is MADE of water), if I deprived it of water from then on...I would feel thirsty. Even if I'm not thirsty at first, I must make the effort. Imagine that! I could change the future of my health! I tried it and guess what?! Now, I get thirsty!

So today, when I was driving down the road in the ninety degree weather I thought, "OMG I'm thirsty!" It's something I'm grateful for, a signal to remind me to take care of myself.

This experience goes far more deep than that. Six months is a short amount of time compared to the many people who live their whole life on the couch. So many of us go along in life dying inside and not even knowing it. Not even realizing we need something. In Mark 6 the Bible says, "...late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o'clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them, but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out ... But Jesus spoke to them at once. "Don't be afraid," he said. "Take courage! I am here!" Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped."

You know the part that blows my mind?! "He intended to go past them." What?! Jesus was intending to leave them on their own even though they were in the midst of a serious storm! But you know, that is the God I know and love. He never pushes Himself on anyone. He never shouts, forces us to do anything, BIBLE THUMPS or puts on the guilt trip. No. He waits until we cry out. He waits until we want Him.

Our lives can so easily become deserts. If we, intentionally or unintentionally condition ourselves to live without God we will eventually not feel like we need or want Him anymore. And sometimes not even realize it! It's little by little. Soon we will not thirst for God nor the things of God. If we aren't the one that cries out to Him, He will pass on by. I don't know about you, but I want to feel thirsty. I want to drink God's water... and if I'm not getting enough, I need that signal that lets me know, I need to take care of myself. If you aren't thirsty it is my high recommendation that you seek God, our loving Creator. Drink Him up and pretty soon it will become apparent that you have no life without Him.