Hunger & Thirst – Food & Water

On By Beth AlisanIn Uncategorized

The sound of barking jerked me awake.  Groggily I glanced at my watch- 4:45am.  The fact that Adi continued to sleep peacefully nearby told me that Summer was not issuing an alarm bark.  “Hopefully she’ll go back to sleep,” I thought.  Another round of barking had me out of bed and hurrying to my eldest daughter’s room to get Summer before she woke the rest of the house.

Elated, Summer greeted me with all the enthusiasm of a happy Lab before racing down the steps.  She wasn’t waiting for me at the front door, ready to go outside as I had anticipated.  Rather, she was in the kitchen licking the water bowl dry.  I filled it halfway, and she promptly drank it back down.   “Uh oh,” I thought, “must be a  side effect of the medicine she was on to treat a tick borne disease.” 

It wasn’t until Adi meandered into the kitchen and stood beside the dog food bins that I got another piece of the puzzle.  The lid to Adi’s food bin was knocked askew.  A look inside showed a muzzle dent, suspiciously Summer-sized, of missing food. 

When my teenager finally woke up later that morning, I got the rest of the story.  She had gone upstairs to bed only to realize that Summer hadn’t followed.  When she went to investigate, she found Summer with her head in Adi’s food bin noshing away gleefully.  Ever the opportunist, Summer had found the bin unsecured and helped herself to a midnight snack.  My daughter promptly grabbed her collar and marched her upstairs to bed.

Now, if you’ve ever watched a dog eat dry food, they will immediately drink water afterwards.  They need the water to help break down the compact kibble pieces.  Poor Summer had laid all night with dry food in her tummy and no water to help in the digestion.  No wonder she was up with the birds barking for water. 

This incident with Summer has helped me better understand a rich metaphor Jesus spoke in John 6:35.  A metaphor I knew I didn’t fully grasp. 

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Jesus is the bread of life.  If I come to Jesus gaining knowledge of Him through reading the Word, I have filled my stomach with the bread of life.  However, I can’t process that bread unless I add the water of belief.  Only if I believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of the living God will both my hunger and thirst be quenched. 

Whenever I feed the dogs, I make sure their water bowl is full.  Likewise, each time I sit down to read the Word of God I need to ensure that my belief tank is full.  Eternal life is found in believing.

“For God loved the world in this way:  He gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” 

John 3:16

“Jesus Told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

John 14:6

© 2024, Lessons from a Lab, Beth Alisan.  All Rights Reserved.

23 thoughts on “Hunger & Thirst – Food & Water”

  2. I just love the truth that you share in the lessons you learn from Summer and Adi. This spoke to me so much: “Whenever I feed the dogs, I make sure their water bowl is full. Likewise, each time I sit down to read the Word of God I need to ensure that my belief tank is full. Eternal life is found in believing.” So true!! Thank you for sharing yet another impacting lesson from your adorable dogs, Beth!

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    1. Thank you Tierney! She most definitely was naughty and was in no way remorseful for her actions. Now that she knows the power of a nose nudge we have to be extra mindful of securing the latches on the food bins. She definitely is the dog that keeps us on our toes.

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  4. Andy B of The BerryBunch's avatar BerryBunch.family

    “However, I can’t process that bread unless I add the water of belief.”

    We’ve recently endured an insanely busy season. Let me explain:

    – 6 month celebration of our radio station (all good, but much extra work required for that)

    – 2 day, 800 mile business trip visiting various folk (usual occurrence once every month or so for me now…but it got interrupted with…)…

    – car engine died in the middle lane of a motorway (70MPH vehicles and 3 lanes wide). Accident free, praise God!!

    – replacement car offered next day, but needs importing from some lovely Christian folk who answered a prayer we hadn’t yet even prayed!

    – video editing computer dies; central to our video based ministry, and the radio station (18 month old PC, so warranty help is there but they have no clue what went wrong)

    – research “how to import a car” (and remember that where I live is the UK, and British bureaucracy is very old…..)

    – get a bank loan for the whole importing a car ‘thing’ and worked out how to find and book a bus, a coach, a hotel and a flight for two, to our friends. Then a ferry ride and a long drive home. Sorted eithin just a few days.

    – new car can’t move until import plus registration is concluded (we’re at 2 weeks and 4 more to go)

    – driving around in old car, only short journeys…quite stressful but no other viable choice and too many urgent journeys we can’t not risk using that car for

    – video editing computer hard drive lost in return post!! My fault, so we had to buy a replacement even though they were happy to replace for free (this eventually fixed the computer problem)

    – 5 day heart monitor for me (4 nights almost no sleep due to the alarm sounding when a probe gets disconnected while you’re asleep, and a 5th night with 9 hours of severe palpitations – the reason for the heart monitor, and, miraculously, all 9 hours caught for my cardiologist)

    – Worst weekend for many years (Easter weekend)

    So my wordpress reading got pushed back.

    A lot.

    And the above is only some of the last 4 weeks of our life.

    It has made me sad and oh so very tired, which made me so much more sad.

    And yet, while warming up in front of our coal fire this morning, feeling sad, emotionally drained and overwhelmed – about the last few weeks – I knew I needed to go back through the many missed blog posts.

    My spirit knew there was a nugget I simply had to read to nourish my soul.

    And I found it in your blog post.

    “However, I can’t process that bread unless I add the water of belief.”

    I share the above because we don’t always know how our words and actions might impact someone.

    We share them, but doubts easily abound – was it worth writing? editing? publishing?

    But I’m here to say those words really are, even as we don’t know who they might be helping.

    I now know what I’m missing, because it has been pretty much beaten out of me over the last month through sleep deprivation and the stresses of life.

    I know tiredness causes sadness and depression but I could not overcome what I felt – my knowledge was not enough.

    Because I’d missed out “belief”.

    Because God is still in control – that got skewed in my thinking…

    Thankyou Beth. Truly. Sitting here very emotional and grateful for how God speaks into our hearts through other people.

    And I’m so very glad that He chooses to use people. Including me.

    Thankyou, and may my comment encourage someone else to keep going and trying and doing!!

    And to remember that tiredness can create sadness all by itself: our feelings can mislead us.

    God does not!

    Thankyou.

    Andy B

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    1. You my friend have, with this incredible testimony, shown perseverance in suffering with the reality of the toll it takes on mind, body and soul. I am beyond humbled that the little nugget the Holy Spirit was nudging you to find just happened to a lesson from my Lab. As I read the roller coaster journey you and our beloved Berry Bunch have been on these last weeks, I couldn’t help but think that the Kingdom job your ministry is doing must be making a powerful impact on this world as Satan is trying his hardest to trip you up at every turn. Take heart Andy B. From your testimony I can see how the Lord is blessing you and keeping you; He is making His face to shine upon you and being gracious to you. He has turned his face toward you and is offering you His peace (Numbers 6:24-26). Remember, He has placed a light in you that doesn’t stop shining even when you are feeling your weakest and lowest.

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      1. Andy B of The BerryBunch's avatar BerryBunch.family

        thank Beth – really value your words ☺

        just being served with an eviction notice today too…some more moving parts to work out

        life with the BerryBunch is never going to be described as boring! sometimes a tad less excitement would be nice, but then we wouldn’t get to see what God is capable of if we were always able in and of ourselves. i say that for myself as much as it is true!

        our landlady simply has too much emotional attachment to the home where her parents lived – letting agent was actually a bit upset on our behalf

        and, somehow, i’m not utterly freaking out that we only have 2 months to find a new home and move, while having no deposit. and a vehicle we are still far from having officially imported, sitting in our garage………………

        the consensus is clear enough – you’re the third person to identify this as a spiritual attack: Pure247Radio.org continues to grow well, with some out of this world opportunities opening up this year

        and, while God keeps opening doors, we’ll keep walking

        thanks for writing that post – shared with my family. so very powerful so thanks for penning them!

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      2. Glad my comment could be of encouragement to your family. Eager to see the amazing way the Lord provides new housing for your family. Somehow I think wherever He moves you will be a blessing your radio ministry operations.

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      4. Andy B of The BerryBunch's avatar BerryBunch.family

        God is good

        some sleep, and lovely encouraging people sending messages has helped no end

        we really shouldn’t underestimate the power of a kind word or two

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  6. Just this morning I was listening to the testimony of comedian Jeff Allen as I worked out. He mentioned that before accepting Jesus into his life he had tried to read the Bible, but it made no sense to him. AFTER affirming his belief, however, he read and read and read. ‘Couldn’t get enough of God’s wisdom! I’ve heard others give similar witness. Your perfect analogy, Beth, illustrates why we must add faith to our learning about him, his Son, and the Holy Spirit. It simply can’t be digested by those with no belief in Jesus.

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