They ask me how I know that Jesus is real and that God exists. I just know. I can feel it. It's a vibe I get. It's the way He's worked in my life. He truly does work miracles every day. The things I've experienced just simply can't be coincidences.
We are going to throw back to January of 2016. I was in a psychiatric hospital for an attempted, and almost successful suicide. I took 1500mg of Lamotrigine (my anti-seizure/mood stabilizer). My prescribed dose was 200mg per day. That's two pills. I took 15 -- nearly 8x what I was supposed to have. To be honest, it's a miracle enough that I made it through that. I couldn't walk for days and I was on an all liquid diet. I couldn't sit up. It was pure misery. I didn't even get to wash the vomit out of my hair for a few days. I didn't know why I'd survived, but there was a reason.
When I was medically stable, I got transferred to a psychiatric hospital. We had a group where the therapist walked around and handed everyone a Styrofoam cup. He told us to write the name of the person who has had the most influence in our lives. Most people chose their mom, their sister, some other relative, or a close friend. I chose Jesus.
The therapist told us all to draw a picture of the person on the cup and to write all of the different things that make that person great.
When we were done, we were all feeling pretty good about our cups. "Now take your cups and smash them on the table," he told us. We were all reluctant to do so.
See where this is going?
Eventually, we smashed our cups. When we were done, he handed us each a roll of Scotch tape and said, "fix it." We all did our best.
When it came down to it, we tried to fill our cups with water to see if they would leak. The idea of the exercise was to show that after you damage a relationship, there's no going back and it will never be the same again. The difference between my cup and everyone else's was that mine held water. Nobody else's did. The therapist told me that it must have been, "whatever you wrote on that cup," and then he smiled. He said in all of his time doing this exercise, no one's cup had ever held water. Mine didn't even leak in the slightest. I didn't go overboard on the tape, either.
It just goes to show that you can't damage your relationship with Jesus -- you can't.
Later that night, I was in my hospital room. I was extremely thirsty, but I didn't want to leave my room (plus, I didn't know if I was allowed to). I took my Jesus cup into my bathroom, filled it with water, and drank from it.
"Oh, that's just ironic, isn't it? There's no way that could mean anything." Check this out, friends.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
John 7:37-38
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Isaiah 12:3
With joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Isaiah 49:10
They shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.
Matthew 10:42
And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
It seems to me like water is very significant in the Bible. And so Jesus left the flock of 99 just for one. I tell you what, He'd do it again, too. For another, just like you.