Have you ever been thirsty?
The answer is yes. We all experience thirst in our lives. Our bodies were built to thirst. But we do not just thirst for water or a cold drink, we have thirst in our souls.
Whether you realize it or not, at some point your heart and soul has longed or desired for something more than your current state of being. If we look at the definitions of thirst, we can all relate.
Merriam Webster Definition of thirsty
thirstier; thirstiest
1
a :feeling thirst
b :deficient in moisture :parched thirsty land
c :highly absorbent thirsty towels
2
:having a strong desire :avid thirsty for knowledge
Urban Dictionary: Thirsty
1. Too eager to get something (especially play)
2. Desperate
(Boy running up) “Ay gurl whasup? Look, you lookin real nice, can I get that young number?”
(Girl under breath) “Thirsty”
Whichever definition best fits your life, physically and spiritually we are desperate for more. We encounter people, jobs, and experiences that bring us happiness, but they are temporary. We keep seeking more because we are not completely satisfied.We feed our souls with relationships, social media, shopping, jobs, even food.
This month we are working at Samaritan Creations, an organization that helps rescue thirsty women from sex trafficking. The name Samaritan Creations is rooted in the story of the Samaritan Woman in John 4:
The dust plumed up beneath my feet as I walked. Even the relentless rays of the midday sun felt markedly more comfortable than the stares of the other women when I came for water in the morning. I was relieved to find myself alone at the well. I could draw my water in peace and hurry back home.
I was so thirsty.
As I lowered a leather bucket into the well, a man’s voice
Surprised me.
“Give me a drink”.
I looked over to see a man who was visibly tired and dirty from a long journey . He was Jewish, and we both knew He shouldn’t be talking to me, a Samaritan and a woman.
When I asked him why He spoke to me, my cancer drew a kind, boyish grin across His face.
“If you knew who I was, you would be asking Me for water. Whoever drinks My water, he will never be thirsty again.”
I was intrigued. My daily trips to the well were saturated with dread, with fear of hurtful whispers or yet again being pushed away. Many times the women immediately leave when I arrived. The reaction stung.
But I had to come. I had to get water. I carried it home to drink and cook and wash in, but it didn’t ever make me feel clean. Those women, they were clean. Their lives were honorable and tidy.
I wanted His water so I no longer have to come to the well and risk the shame.
But instead of giving me the water, He asked about my husband. It felt mean, as if He knew what I ached fir and was holding out.
My jar wasn’t full yet but I wanted to escape. I answered shot: “Sir, I do not have a husband.” I was bothered by how dry my mouth was. If I wasn’t so thirsty, I could run.
“I know”
What did He know? How could He know?
He kindly and quietly said “you have had five husbands and the man you are with now, he is not your husband”.
I was caught, Everything I had been running from, everything I’d been hiding from, He was throwing in my face. No one knew about the other husbands.
“You are obviously a prophet, so maybe you can answer something for me. Where are we supposed to worship?”
“I know there have been all kinds of rues in pace for how to worship and love God but everything is about to change.”
There was something about the way He said it, the authority and kindness of His words even though He knew all the shameful things I was doing to hide. I had a feeling He was the One we had all been waiting for. The though terrified me. Messiah, here and now talking to me?
“Woman, I am He. The time has come”.
I have been drinking from dry dirty water for so long. I have been drinking the cheap wine as Jennie Allen puts it in her book Nothing to Prove. When we are hiding things in our life, we tend to fill ourselves with cheap wine, or temporary water.
My cheap wine has been spending money, busyness, striving to achieve it all, emotional eating, boys, drinking, perfectionism… There are about a dozen more I could list.
I read over this story multiple times this month because the women I am working with are Samaritan women. They are now drinking from Jesus living water. However, when I read this story this week, my mind did not go to the women selling themselves on the streets of Bangkok, but the men who purchase them.
The first time I went into a dance bar in Bangkok, I looked around and saw 4 white men sitting in the dark room staring straight at a row of 15 year old girls in tiny g-strings and pasties covering their nipples. One man had two young girls on both his hips while he stretched his arms out on the velvet couch and gazed up at the other pole dancers.
I was furious. He was my dad’s age. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? There were so many raging thoughts that went through my head.
Each girl has a number pinned to her bra. The men pick and choose and eventually “buy” her out, most likely to go home and sleep with her. They will probably never know their name. The men don’t know their age, if the woman has any kids or a husband, or really anything about her. They just have to remember the girls number so he can pay the price. As these thoughts run through my mind, all I want to do is go over there and pull each girl off the man to take them home myself. I want to cry, scream and punch these men in the face for the way they objectify these young girls.
But then a second round of thoughts come in… This man must be SO thirsty. ?He must be so desperate.
I am no longer judging him, I am heartbroken for him.
I wonder what his story is? I wonder what his name is? Does he have a family or wife? What happened in his past to get him inside this dark hidden place?
Now all I want to do is go over there and sit with the man who has the two girls. I want to be like Jesus and tell him that his past, his shame, his hidden secrets.. they are forgiven. I want to tell him that these young girls are not going to satisfy his thirst. The only thing that will is Jesus. This cheap wine will run out. Don’t you notice? Isn’t that why you keep coming back?
Except Jesus offers us something so much better, something that will never run out. The best part… His living water will be the greatest thing we ever taste.
Thank you Jesus for reminding me of this story and the fact that you know every single thing about us. Thank you for reminding me that when you look at these women and men in the dance bars you don’t see sin. You don’t judge them. Thank you continue to pursue me even when I can’t put my cheap bottle of wine down. I know you will continue to pursue these men and women in the bars of Thailand, even in the deepest darkest hours of the night. Help me to see like you see. Help me to bring your living water to the whole world.
(Modern day version storyline comes from the book Nothing to Prove by Jennie Allen)
