Are You Dehydrated?

Lately my husband has been asking me if I am okay.  I’m not sure if it’s an expression on my face or the seeming lack of energy. I sometimes get a little cranky and I have noticed I do not tolerate the high temperatures we have been experiencing very well. We do have air conditioning for which I am very grateful. Like everyone else it has been difficult but we have all adjusted fairly well to the Corona rules. No, it’s something else.

I love coffee – hot coffee – not iced or ice tea. I can and do drink three to four cups everyday if I am not counting. Although coffee counts as a fluid the problem is it can also be a diuretic. I am getting dehydrated without realizing it. Coffee is substituting for the real thing – plain old H2O.

“How does your body feel when it’s dehydrated? Any deficit in normal body water can make us feel rotten. First we feel thirsty and fatigued, and may develop a mild headache. This eventually gives way to grumpiness, and mental and physical decline.”  (Unknown google quote)  There are lists for signs of dehydration but the bottom line is you can’t put out if you don’t take in.

I have noticed a certain amount of spiritual dehydration when chores and busyness get in the way of quiet time reading my Bible and prayer. I cannot be my best self. I don’t tolerate other peoples’ flaws and fail to extend grace. My point of view becomes cloudy without the illumination of God’s Word.  Without taking in the “Living Water” my soul becomes dry and inflexible and fruitless which also means I cannot pour out.

As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.² I thirst for God, the living God. Psalms 42:1-2 (NLT)

In New England, summer seems short and we love to enjoy the outdoors and  many fun activities as long as we can.  Don’t become dehydrated this summer. Make sure to drink plenty of fluids, seek shade and rest on these hot days.  The same advice goes for your soul.  In the heat of politics, financial, educational and health uncertainty etc. – we need to drink deeply from His Word. Listen to Christian music, a podcast or read a good book to rest and refresh.

Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” John 4:10 (NLT)

 “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!³⁸ Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ John 7:37-38 (NLT)

The need to come to Him is spelled out so clearly in the song “The Well” by Casting Crowns I want to share it with you. Here are some of the lyrics from the first verse. Stay hydrated friends!

Leave it all behind

I have what you need
But you keep on searchin’
I’ve done all the work
But you keep on workin’
When you’re runnin’ on empty
And you can’t find the remedy
Just come to the well

You can spend your whole life
Chasin’ what’s missing
But that empty inside
It just ain’t gonna listen
When nothing can satisfy
And the world leaves you high and dry
Just come to the well

And all who thirst will thirst no more
And all who search will find what their souls long for
The world will try, but it can never fill
Leave it all behind, and come to the well