"Can I have another shot of those eye drops?" I asked the nurse.  I had barely slept the night before because my eyes were hurting so bad.  It felt like a grain of sand under my eyelid, and nothing I did could get rid of it.  I went to the emergency room the next morning where they put some drops in my eye that numbed the pain. 

I would have done anything to get rid of that pain.  I knew the drops were not good for my eyes in the long run, but I just didn’t care.  Once I experienced even a little bit of relief, I just wanted to keep the pain away.  Thank God the doctors weren’t allowed to give me what I wanted that day.

Sin is medication – Most things that we consider "bad" are really just pain medication.  Most people feel a dull ache in their soul and will do anything to find some satisfaction.  That ache comes from a lifetime of missing the one thing that can fulfill us completely.

The ache inside – Most of us crave attention.  We long for someone to tell us we’re valuable.  There’s a reason for that.  We were all born incomplete.  There is a need for validation, affection, completion, and affirmation that every single person needs.  Parents, peers, children, and friends cannot completely fill this need. 

So some people turn to Jesus.  They’re promptly taught that the answer to that ache is to serve Jesus.  To do good works.  But they never really learn to experience God rather than serve him.  They continue doing God’s work, thinking that in that work come fulfillment.  But the hunger deep inside for approval and validation continues to hurt.

Is it any wonder that so many people turn to alcohol, drugs, pornography, gambling, sex, fame, or any number of other things?  What do you do when nothing anyone says takes away the ache in your soul?  If you can’t fix it, than you might as well numb the pain. 

Addicted to numbness – There is a physical side to addiction, but I believe there’s also an emotional side to it as well.  How many people get completely wasted because for a couple of hours they feel free from the cares of the world, and they temporarily stop feeling that something is just wrong without being able to fix it. To feel that temporary freedom becomes an addition.  And pretty soon the physical catches up with the emotional and now our bodies are as addicted as our souls are.

Living Water – God is the only thing that can take away the ache in our soul.  The feeling of emptiness.  But it doesn’t happen by studying the Bible if we still view him as a far-in-the-distance God.  Until we come to grips with the fact that he wants to be integrated into our lives like breathing will we experience the fulfillment that only he can bring.