Life is where the water is. Air, water, sleep, and food sustain our bodies.
We can barely survive three minutes without air. Four minutes without oxygen to the brain can cause irreversible damage and, after six minutes, possibly death. Without water, we can only last three to ten days. The effects of dehydration often begin shutting down organs much sooner.
A fit, healthy person can fast from forty-six to seventy-three days, provided they receive plenty of water. A sick or brain-injured person can last only ten to fourteen days without food. Lack of food also causes health complications, which is why the Bible speaks about forty-day fasts (goodnewsaboutgod.com).
According to healthline.com, the longest anyone has gone without sleep is 264 hours. Hallucinations begin after three to four nights. Cognitive functions, decreased reaction time, irritability, delusions, paranoia, and psychosis are also common. Twenty-four hours without sleep causes impaired decision-making, judgment, vision, hearing, memory, and other issues. This compares to a blood alcohol level of .10, the limit many states classify as impaired driving. After thirty-six hours, appetite, metabolism, mood, stress, and body temperature are affected. The immune system is affected after forty-eight hours.
We can also be thirsty spiritually and emotionally. David faced all three conditions while in the wilderness of Judah. He depended on God to sustain him. But David experienced more than the physical aspects. He needed God’s presence and comfort more than anything else.
We also need the Lord’s presence and comfort. We end in a worse condition when we go without God for even a short time. If God’s breath and daily presence were vital for Adam, what makes us think we’re different?
Whatever your wilderness, you can’t survive without the Lord’s presence. You can withstand anything with God’s presence and comfort, whether it’s a physical, mental, or emotional struggle. He is where the water is.
(photo courtesy of pixabay.com.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
Andy is a published multi-award-winning author with devotions appearing on the Christian Devotions website as well as the CBN website. He is a contributing author in the Starr Ayers/Stephanie Pavlantos book Room at the Table. Currently, he is working on his first novel and is assembling a book of inspirational Scripture-based short stories along with moral, personal, family, and comical stories. Andy is the founder and director of H.O.P.E. Ministries in Candler, NC. While operating primarily as a food ministry, they also provide backpacks, Easter baskets, and Christmas shoebox gifts to crisis pregnancy centers, domestic violence shelters, schools, government agencies, and other ministries. They also provide disaster relief and aid for unwed mothers and their children.