“Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness.”
— Psalm 95:8

Thirst is a powerful drive. Water is a basic human need. To be without water is a hard test. To trust God for water is a profound demand.

At Massah, also called Meribah, the children of Israel quarreled with Moses and tested God. They doubted God’s presence and provision. They did this because they were thirsty.

They quarreled. They doubted. But God provided in spite of their hard hearts. The water came from the rock. Psalm 95 admonishes us to praise God, who is the rock of our salvation, and not to harden our hearts toward God.

Hard times test us to the core. Paul tells the believers in Rome, in Romans 5, that suffering, filtered through faith, brings endurance that leads to character and hope. God helps us. God provides.

God quenches the deepest thirst of our lives.

We can trust God.

Jesus delivers this message to the woman at the well. In his conversation with her, he reminds her that whoever drinks from Jacob’s well will thirst again. However, he will give water that will satisfy forever.

She understands the metaphor. She looks at her life of dissatisfaction. She looks at Jesus. She believes him. Her heart is not hard.

She runs home to her Samaritan village and invites everyone to come see a man who knew her completely, even though he did not know her at all.

Come see him!

Many came. Their hearts were not hard. They believed also.

It is amazing what God can do with a soft and receptive heart.

No matter how thirsty you are, you can open your heart to God and drink from the well that never runs dry.