Limp, wilted and a little sad…
The flower my husband brought me from his mom’s garden didn’t fare too well on the long drive home, but ever the optimist he put the droopy blossom in a vase filled to the top with water and hoped for the best.
I can relate to that flower. Life can be challenging, leaving us weary and wondering what it’s going to take to feel restored again.
It makes me think about the woman at the well. In the heat of the day, alone, she went to the well for water. When Jesus met her, he saw a person who had been through a few things.
“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’” John 4:13-14
She was there for water, but left with so much more.
The next day, I looked at the vase expecting to throw out my flower and instead found a beautiful single peony standing straight and healthy. That bloom drank in the cool refreshing water and was revived. Perfect? No. Yet stronger and more alive than it had been the day before.
Water is all it took to bring that flower back to life.
Maybe like my little flower we just need to drink in some water, but a refreshing sip from the tap or even a fancy fizzy water will not be enough to do the job. Those things only offer temporary relief. Instead, we need living water which brings a renewed spirit.
Will life still sometimes be draining leaving us feeling wilted? Of course! We may go to the well depleted but we can leave with the peace that comes with the grace that is freely given through Jesus.
With love,
Debbie