When dry desert-like times come into our lives, and we find the joy of our salvation lacking, there are a few different ways that we can react: some of them good, some of them not so good. I can speak from experience! For example, one way I reacted to the desert times was by running from them to any cheap oasis I could find. I chased mirages through the desert, thinking one of them could give me the joy, the living water that I lacked. I cooled towards my God and my church, because I blamed God for my troubles. I blamed him for the thirst I was feeling.

As a young teenager, I became quite good at running toward non-Christian parties and soccer games and social clubs. I spent time with friends who would make fun of the religious people around them – religious people like I used to be. But as I ran from one oasis to the next, none satisfied me. I started to wonder what I was doing. There was no purpose in my life, nothing to look forward to. Finally, I realized I had to stop running. I prayed to God, “Get me out of this, and I will serve You and give my whole life to you!” That was the turning point for me. I turned to Jesus and drank from the living water He provides.

So many people turn to other things to satisfy them, but Jesus is the only one who can quench our inner thirst. Let’s point people to that one and only true fount of living water; their lives will never be the same.    

This is Luis Palau.