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

My hands are clinched tight. I sit in my chair, eyes closed. The struggles of the past few days have been overwhelming. I have everything to be thankful for, yet in my heart there is no peace. I’m unsettled, unsatisfied. Searching for something I can’t quite grasp. As I breathe in and out, I realize the problem. I’ve been digging. Frantically excavating answers to quiet the ache within.

A Habit of Digging In

When life gets difficult, and changes come that I don’t expect, I get lost in my own thoughts. Worry presses in. I’m reaching for my phone instead of my Bible. Scrolling social media instead of seeking the truth of God’s Word. I busy myself with tasks that feel productive but leave me emptier. I research, read articles, make plans. And still, the thirst remains. Before I realize it, I’ve abandoned God’s way altogether. Instead of finding my way back to him, I dig in my heels and fight alone. Determined to make it on my own, but never finding satisfaction or joy. I’ve been trying to drink from wells I carved for myself, and they’re all running dry.

The people of Jeremiah’s day wanted the freedom to live how they wanted to live, but in choosing to go their own way, they abandoned the God who created them. The people sought fulfillment in the common gods of the nations around them. Instead of reciting all God did for them in the past during worship in the Temple, they remained silent. Like me, they chose to forget about God’s continuous protection and his hand that guided them. The Israelites wanted to be like everyone else around them instead of fulfilling their true calling to be the holy, set-apart people of God. They intentionally chose to walk away from God. Jeremiah’s words compare their attitude to carving cracked cisterns. 

Empty Buckets

Ancient cisterns were wells dug in the earth and filled with fresh rain water. When the well cracked, it couldn’t hold water. It dried up quickly and the remaining water became polluted. Imagine kneeling at a well like this. Lowering the bucket with hope only to pull up mud and disappointment. The realization that all your effort produced nothing life-giving. When I choose self-reliance over trusting God, I’m left holding a bucket of regret and shame.

There are days I can’t see past the darkness of my own thoughts. Instead, all I see are the things I don’t have, the hurts I’ve experienced, the pain others have caused me. When I choose to walk my own path away from God, I abandon his purpose and intention in my life. I may attain success in the world’s eyes, but the heartbreaking truth is that God is not pleased with my effort. My human-powered life will be limited in scope, destructive, and always consuming…never giving. Just like that broken down well.

The Well That Never Runs Dry

The goal is not to dig more wells or to have more things. The goal is a relationship with the Giver of Life. When I stop digging, put down my shovel, and open my hands to God, he can do more than I could ever ask or imagine. Jesus is my Source of Life. He is the well that never runs dry. When I release my white-knuckle hold and trust him, I am filled to the brim. Out of my heart will flow rivers of living water, drawing others to want to know him, too. Then, as I learn to trust God, I can offer hope to others around me. This once broken cistern becomes an overflowing well of life and hope for others.

Have you ever found yourself digging frantically instead of drinking from the living water? What white-knuckle hold do you need to release? Leave a comment below or hit reply. 

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This is the second in a series on Jeremiah. If you missed the first article read it here: When the Wait Is All You Have.