The Drought

Every now and again rain falls. When there are extended periods without rain, we have a drought. There are four different kinds of drought, and you can read about them here.

In the recent COVID pandemic, people hoarded toilet paper. There are a variety of reasons for that, but it all boils down to, “I don’t want to run out.” People stockpiled water, too. I guess they worried about running out.

Shortages are really only a measure of what’s usual compared to what’s happening at a specific time. If farmland normally gets X amount of rain, getting half of that is cause for concern. Same thing with toilet paper. If there’s usually a thousand rolls on the shelves at your favorite store, when there’s only five hundred, you figure, “I better get some ‘cuz there’s a shortage.” The next person sees only 480 rolls, they buy some, and pretty soon we have empty shelves.

Some people already had plenty of TP. They rushed out to get more because there’s gonna be a shortage. Never mind that they already had a month’s supply in their bathroom closet. There’s a similar test about another kind of shortage: spiritual drought.

If the rain stops falling, do farmers just bemoan the lack of rain, or do they fire up the irrigation system? That’s right, they turn on the faucet to spray water on their crops. Do you do that when it feels like God has abandoned you?

There’s a fire hose of God in the Bible. Every passage is a window into His Will. Every story points to Jesus. If you’re spiritually dry, try drinking from the water found only in Jesus.

But do you do that only when you’re spiritually dry? COVID showed a lot of people buying TP when they already had plenty. Do you drink from the Word of God when you don’t feel spiritually dry?

The best way to protect crops from drought is to give them some water every day. If you wait until they’re wilting, it takes more effort to bring them back. The same can be said about spiritual wilting.

Take a drink from the Bible every day. Spiritual droughts happen to everyone, and you know what they say about an ounce of prevention.

All of 2019 was a bad year for me. That’s the first time I’ve ever really felt old, but that was only one aspect of it.

I’d been digging deeper into the Word of God for at least a year prior to that, and it helped me get through. Just as things got better toward the end of 2019, I made some financial moves to put things on a firmer footing. Then COVID happened.

While a lot of folks got laid off, I was fortunate to keep my job. That is, until April 14. That date is easy to recall because it’s my sister’s birthday. Because I’d been studying the Bible (a lot) for more than two years, losing my job didn’t concern me that much. My wife and I had already paid off our house and were nearly debt free. I credit the leading of the Spirit of God for that move, BTW.

So along comes a lay-off. I knew God would provide what I needed, when I needed it. If it hadn’t been for the drought of 2019, or the studying of His Word the year before that, maybe I would have handled things a lot differently.

Droughts will happen. Though they might be painful at the time, they can be used to connect with God on a deeper level.

Here in the Midwest we’re familiar with wind storms. Many trees are uprooted if the wind blows hard enough, but those with a deep root system are able to withstand the storm. The taller the tree, the deeper the roots have to go to keep it secured to the ground. The same could be said of the Christian faith.

Did the tornado of COVID uproot your faith tree? Perhaps you need deeper roots. When the storm passes there are two options: sink your roots deeper and live, or give up and wither away.

There’s a tree along the interstate I drive past regularly. Something happened to it more than ten years ago and it split in half. The tips of each half now touch (or nearly touch) the soil. But as of the summer of 2020 that tree is still alive. It’s roots are keeping it alive and thriving, despite an event that could very well have killed it.

Are you like the poplar tree in my back yard that succumbed because squirrels peeled too much bark from it, or are you a split tree still thriving after being torn in two?

How deep are your roots? Could a cute rodent kill you? Or will you defy the storms that could have ripped you apart? Sink it your roots, weather the storm, and survive the drought by drinking the Living Water of Christ.

(Forgive the photo quality. “Split Tree” was taken in 2007 while traveling down I-90.)