…[Jesus] cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says." (John 7:37b-38, The Message)
As I type this it is a rather gray day outside my window. Each afternoon this week I have watched storm clouds build…huge thunderheads that build false hopes for rain before moving on.
With temperatures over 100 degrees each day, they say we are in a drought. I long to smell the freshness of rain hitting the ground, that deep earthy smell that lingers in my nostrils and tells me that things are growing and all is right with the world.
Instead I see dryness all around me. The other day I drove past corn fields east of here that should be shoulder-high by now, but instead are brittle and brown. Even the grass has quit growing.
I wonder whether these dry times mean that God has forgotten us, then I remember that just within reach is a garden hose and water that will revive my wilting flowerbeds. I have everything that I need right here. The problem is that life gets in the way. I become so wrapped up in all the things that I need to get done that I forget to take a break and turn on the tap.
It reminds me of our spiritual lives, for we can experience drought there too. And we may wonder if that means that God has left us. The good news is that God is right there all the time, ready with life-giving water to refresh our souls. Instead of stopping to take a drink we turn to all the things that we think we must get done. We become so wrapped up in all that “stuff” that we forget about God. In our haste to be what we think we should be and to do what we think we should do we bypass the very thing that will nourish us and grow our souls.
My prayer for you is that in the midst of this Oklahoma drought you will find time daily to spend with God, and that you will allow living water to revive your spirit and grow your faith.
As I type this it is a rather gray day outside my window. Each afternoon this week I have watched storm clouds build…huge thunderheads that build false hopes for rain before moving on.
With temperatures over 100 degrees each day, they say we are in a drought. I long to smell the freshness of rain hitting the ground, that deep earthy smell that lingers in my nostrils and tells me that things are growing and all is right with the world.
Instead I see dryness all around me. The other day I drove past corn fields east of here that should be shoulder-high by now, but instead are brittle and brown. Even the grass has quit growing.
I wonder whether these dry times mean that God has forgotten us, then I remember that just within reach is a garden hose and water that will revive my wilting flowerbeds. I have everything that I need right here. The problem is that life gets in the way. I become so wrapped up in all the things that I need to get done that I forget to take a break and turn on the tap.
It reminds me of our spiritual lives, for we can experience drought there too. And we may wonder if that means that God has left us. The good news is that God is right there all the time, ready with life-giving water to refresh our souls. Instead of stopping to take a drink we turn to all the things that we think we must get done. We become so wrapped up in all that “stuff” that we forget about God. In our haste to be what we think we should be and to do what we think we should do we bypass the very thing that will nourish us and grow our souls.
My prayer for you is that in the midst of this Oklahoma drought you will find time daily to spend with God, and that you will allow living water to revive your spirit and grow your faith.
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