So glad you can join me for today's devotional from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled Thirsty and Thankful was written by John Blaze.

Two friends and I were checking off a bucket list item, hiking the Grand Canyon.

We wondered if we had enough water as we started out

our hike, and it ran out fast. We were completely out of water, with still a ways to go to reach

the rim. Panting, mixed with praying, set in. Then we rounded a corner, and what we maintain

as a miracle happened. We spotted three water bottles tucked in a

cleft in the rock with a note, knew you'd need this, and joy. We looked at each other in disbelief,

whispered a thank you to God, took a couple of much-needed sips, and then set out on the last

stretch. I've never been so thirsty

and thankful in my life. The writer of Psalm 42 didn't have a Grand Canyon experience,

but it's clear he knew how a deer acts when thirsty and possibly scared. The deer pants,

a word that brings to mind thirst and hunger, to the point where if something doesn't change, you are afraid you might die. The psalmist equates

the deer's degree of thirst to his desire for God. So my soul pants for you, my God. Like much needed water, God is our ever-present help.

We pant for Him because He brings renewed strength and refreshment to our weary lives,

equipping us for whatever the day's journey holds.

Our scripture reading for today is from Psalm 42 verses 1 through 5.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?

My tears have been my food, day and night,

while people say to me all day long, where is your God?

...