Error
The Oxford professor and Christian philosopher, C.S. Lewis once wrote, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” The reality of dissatisfaction is inescapable. It pushes us to look deeper and higher to find true satisfaction.
Today, the variety of ways to search for satisfaction is endless. Billions of people (us included) spend their entire lifetimes, each in their own ways, pursuing some kind of satisfaction.
So, when Jesus in John 7, steps onto the world stage and says, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink,” he is making a bold claim. He’s not offering a drinking fountain that spouts up before draining away. Jesus is talking about God’s flood of love and his ocean of grace to quench every thirst.
Jesus intended his words to echo a story from the Old Testament. A story of deep dissatisfaction and true need.
The dissatisfaction of the Israelites in Exodus 17 isn’t hard to put your finger on. They were in the desert. It was hot and dry. They had traveled a long way from Egypt, and now there was no water.
This wasn’t their first brush with such dissatisfaction though. Twice before they’d encountered similar obstacles. First, they had found water, but it was bitter and undrinkable, before God, through Moses, cleansed it (Exodus 15:22-27). Then, they lacked food, before God sent manna and quail (bread and meat) to feed them (Exodus 16). This time the need was dire. They had no water, but this time they seemed sure God wouldn’t come through.
Think back to your own seasons of dissatisfaction. While lacking water has an obvious solution, our own seasons of thirst aren’t always so black and white. Do I really need a new car or new phone, or am I just comparing myself to others? Why do I need a good grade? Why exactly do I want a good review?
The good news is that God still wants for us what he wanted for the people of Israel; to look to him to meet our needs, and to trust that he will. God repeatedly met their needs. He provided water, he provided food. God had proved to them that they could trust him. Yet they cared more about having their needs met than about leaning into this relationship of trust. To them, God was a cosmic vending machine, not a loving father who knows what his children need.
Despite this mindset, God graciously provided the water they needed. Without a word of rebuke, God instructed Moses, “Strike the rock, and water will come out” (Exodus 17:6). He did not withhold what they needed, as though waiting for them to get their hearts right. He immediately supplied their thirst because he loved them.
While our own dissatisfactions may be more complex, what God wants for us is the same—a deep and abiding relationship of trust. When Jesus stood up and said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink,” (John 7:37) he wasn’t talking about water. John explained it for us: “By this he meant the Spirit,” (John 7:39).
God wants to have a relationship with us. That relationship comes by His Spirit, living in us. But we can easily fall into the same ways of thinking as the Israelites. We are tempted to trust God only if he gives us what we want, whether or not it’s actually good for us. God is a good father, and he only gives us good gifts.
When we are dissatisfied, he wants us to come to him. Not withholding our love and trust until he provides, but rather expressing our desires, believing that God will give us exactly what we truly need. Every good and perfect gift comes from God, and when we live in trust, we can live carefree, knowing God will provide everything we need.
Ultimately, God satisfies our needs by giving us his Spirit. He knows what we need because Jesus understands our dissatisfaction. Jesus knew what it was to grieve, to thirst, and to bleed. And the Spirit that was in Jesus is the same Spirit who lives in us, telling God what we need.
God’s Spirit is the spring of living water who satisfies every thirst. Elsewhere, Jesus said, “Whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst.” (John 4:14). God won’t satisfy every desire, but he will satisfy every need. As you learn to trust him for each one, even when dissatisfaction creeps in, you can learn to live carefree.