Hydrate Your Soul
I’m not proud to admit this, but I don’t enjoy drinking water.
It’s life-giving. It’s easily accessible. And where I live, it’s never more than a few steps away. Still, I struggle to drink enough. My wonderful wife has even tried to help by getting me my own water bottle with my name laminated on it. It’s thoughtful. It’s practical. And somehow… I still fall short.
Studies estimate that 1 in 4 adults in America walk around in a state of partial dehydration. That’s tens of millions of people functioning below their potential. The cognitive effects alone are significant:
Headaches
Brain fog
Fatigue / low energy
Irritability
Difficulty concentrating
Slower reaction time
Reduced short-term memory
Given the current U.S. population, that’s roughly 80–90 million people experiencing preventable physical and mental strain—simply because they’re not taking in what their bodies desperately need.
It makes me wonder: where else is this true?
I know it applies spiritually.
In Acts of the Apostles 17:26–28, the apostle Paul says:
“From one man he made all the nations… God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.”
Paul is clear: God has made Himself readily available. He is not distant. He is not hiding. In Him we live and move and have our being.
And yet, how often do we function spiritually dehydrated?
We reach for Him in crisis.
We look up when life forces us to.
But day-to-day? We try to operate on empty.
The encouraging part? The solution isn’t complicated.
And it’s not far away.
If you’re one of the 1 in 4 who struggles to drink enough water, you already know what to do.
And if you sense that you’ve taken God’s availability for granted, you know what to do there too.
Physical hydration matters.
Spiritual hydration matters even more.
For 2026, let’s stop walking around dehydrated.
Let’s move the needle.
"Taking God's availability for granted..." This is so easy to do for those of us who grew up in the church. Thank you for this reminder as I travel through this Lenten season.
Chris,
This landed with both honesty and kindness. The “water bottle with my name laminated on it” detail made me smile, because it’s so human: we can have what we need within arm’s reach and still drift into depletion.
Your question, “Where else is this true?” is the perfect pivot, because spiritual dehydration is often less about rebellion and more about neglect. Not because God is far, but because our attention is scattered. And Acts 17:26–28 confronts the lie at the center of so much fatigue: God is not hiding from us. We don’t “work Him up.” We return to Him.
What I appreciate most is how practical this is. Like hydration, “spiritual hydration” usually isn’t one dramatic moment; it’s small, faithful sips:
A Psalm before the day starts (not to perform, but to be re-centered).
A 30-second “Lord, I’m here” breath prayer between tasks.
Scripture intake that isn’t only for crisis, but for communion.
Obedience in the ordinary (because obedience keeps the channel clear).
Jesus’ invitation is still simple and direct: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). And He doesn’t shame thirsty people, He satisfies them.
So yes, physical hydration matters. But your deeper point is even more life-giving: many of us are trying to “live and move and have our being” while forgetting the 'In Him' part. Thank you for the nudge to stop normalizing dryness as if it’s maturity.
Here’s to 2026: fewer spiritual headaches, less fog, more clarity; not by striving harder, but by drinking deeper.
Blessings,
Ze Selassie