Experiencing God's Presence #306

My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.

John 4:34

Jesus and the disciples had been traveling, and He was tired. So He sat down by a well to rest while the disciples went into town to buy food. When the disciples came back, Jesus was apparently reenergized. They kept offering Him food, but He wasn’t hungry anymore. “I have food you don’t know about,” He told them. Then He began two days’ worth of ministry in the town where they had stopped to rest.

Jesus wasn’t refreshed simply by doing more work. That’s an exhausting way to try to live. He wasn’t refreshed by getting back in touch with the Spirit, as though He had been out of touch before. No, the Spirit was fully present in Jesus at all times. But when the Spirit manifested the work of God through Jesus in an encounter with a woman at the well, He was energized. That’s what happens when the Presence gets stirred up. We get filled with His enthusiasm and strength.

We’ve all experienced the boost of energy that comes when something captures our interest. But we aren’t used to thinking of God—or Jesus or the Spirit—as having various levels of enthusiasm. He seems to be above such swells of emotion. It’s hard to understand His fire rising and falling with certain ideas and events.

Scripture is clear that God has zeal for specific purposes and plans (Isaiah 9:7; 37:32). And when we line up with God’s purposes for us, we’re reenergized too. That’s why it’s essential to notice the passions God has put within you. That’s where He has designed you to work and build His Kingdom. Your food is to do His will, and whatever His will is for you, it will refresh you.

Father, I know my food is to do Your will. Please fill me with the right passions and then refresh me as I live from my heart for Your purposes.

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