“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me-The fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”

Jeremiah 2:13 NLT

Everything seemed overwhelming. The idea of packing another lunchbox made me want to run screaming. Sure, it is a bit dramatic, but that’s where I was. Running on empty, in every sense of the word, I was struggling to keep my head above water, and desperately needed to feel in control of something.

While emotions can be indicators of something brewing in my heart, they are terrible bosses and shouldn’t be trusted. So what’s a gal to do when she finds herself wanting to curl herself in the fetal position when she thinks about packing a lunchbox? Pinterest, of course.

More organization was going to solve all of my problems. I needed to know how to keep my house clean in under 15 minutes each day, how to stock my freezer full of nutritious meals, how to organize my toiletries, and chore charts for the kids…and reward jars for their good behavior. Oh my goodness, how had I survived so long without them? Certainly, that would be the magic bullet for all of my parenting woes…and my life woes come to think of it. If I could just get everything under control I could put the cuckoo back in the clock, breathe normally, and pack lunches with a smile.

This may seem a bit melodramatic because it is, but don’t we have a tendency to get that way when our emotions go unchecked? We find ourselves overwhelmed when the demands of life exceed our limited supply of time and energy and our days leave us feeling empty and discontent.

Sure, I was running on empty and my soul was parched, but what I needed was not a board full of pins on Pinterest. What I needed was more time with the Lord. Sadly, I had taken matters into my own hands, entrusting my sense of peace to the idol of control instead of allowing Him and His word to refresh me and fill me. The fountain of Living Water was right there, waiting to quench my thirst and refresh my soul, yet I had settled for what the world could offer: nothing more than a dirty pit that collects rain water-a broken cistern.

Savoring the Living Water,

Traci