Spiritual Drought

We had a few drops of rain this morning. Not enough. We need more. Of course we are thankful for every drop, its just that we need a lot more. The need for rain is so much more obvious when you live in a rural community. Cattle, goats, pigs and donkeys are in plain sight and there’s few things more heartbreaking than a hungry animal. The soil is also very dry and even regular watering doesn’t keep plants growing. Not that people are allowed to water gardens because of water restrictions.
While the physical drought is plain to see and there are many clear signs, a spiritual drought is sometimes a bit harder to spot. The thing that I have noticed though, is that the two often seem to go hand in hand. The physical is just a manifestation of the spiritual and it can be the spiritual lethargy or apathy which in fact causes the physical drought. In the Old Testament God often caused drought or famine when the people did not want to repent of their sin. I have not seen any scripture which tells me that He isn’t going to do the same in the times that we are living now.
There’s a very well known and widely used verse, 2 Chronicles 7:13-15,
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.
When I read these verses it became abundantly clear to me that the people who have to humble themselves and repent, are God’s people. In the time we’re living in now it would be the Christians, not unbelievers. The people who aren’t believers aren’t the one’s who are responsible for the drought. It’s us; we are to blame. Just look at what happened when Jonah got on the ship that was bound for Tarshish. There was a great storm and the captain told Jonah to call out to his God to save them, but Jonah realised that the storm was a result of his disobedience. He asked them to throw him overboard, rather than have everyone perish. Every time in the bible that someone was disobedient to God the consequences were quite devastating.
So what is the problem today? Why don’t people want to follow God’s Word? What are we doing? When there are decisions by government to do things like taking prayer out of schools, most people who say they are Christians just grumble a bit and then forget all about it. A youth pastor said recently that he did a survey of the youth in the city he stays and 80 to 90 percent don’t attend church, and neither do their parents. That’s is a shocking statistic for a country that professes to be a Christian country.
Do people realise that by saying that they are Christians they should be actively worshipping Jesus? When they say they are Christians it doesn’t mean that because their parents were Christians, and they were baptised as babies in a church, they are Christians. Just because they know that there is a God doesn’t mean they are Christians. I believe it is because people are saying they are Christians, and they are not doing what Christians are supposed to be doing, that we are going through a spiritual and physical drought.
The people who attend church are constantly being ridiculed and even persecuted, but at least they are trying. They might not be perfect but they are trying.
Everyone who claims to be a Christian but isn’t actively following in the footsteps of the Master should wake up and ask Jesus to forgive them so that they can start on a fresh journey with Him.
Isaiah 55:6-7, Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon Him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion of him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
If you have become cold and you really aren’t sure of your salvation, please find a Christian who you can speak to so that you can find your way back to Jesus. God loves you so much He’s going to welcome you with open arms.

Spiritual drought

I was watering the garden begin the shop in the late afternoon. I just took two small buckets and gave the plants the bare minimum of water. I didn’t have the time or the inclination to do more. Everything is really extremely dry because of the lack of rain and also because of my lack of care.
God showed me that the church is like my garden. The people who haven’t given up of the church and left, are barely holding on. Their roots are even drying out. Their leaves are wilting or brittle. They aren’t receiving the water of the Holy Spirit, the living water that they so desperately need in order to grow.

The caretakers of the garden (church) don’t take the time or have the inclination to spend time in the Word to get filled up and to bubble over and spill over. The people who are sitting in the pews are satisfied with the scraps because they haven’t received the real life-giving water for so long that they don’t know any better. They aren’t reaching out and searching for more. Complacency has set in and apathy is the order of the day. If the gardener isn’t excited about growing plants how can the plants be excited, and if he convinces the plants that they are receiving enough water who are they to argue?
The other thing I noticed was that there were thorns sticking into the soles of my shoes. They are very aptly named devil’s thorns. Picking up ‘thorns’ is very easy when there isn’t any nourishment and water.
For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
Proverbs 1:32

Because He Lives

I haven’t been writing about my garden because there’s really not much to say. There has been so little rain and so much wind and heat that most of my garden has died. There are a few herbs left that I’m keeping alive. About five minutes ago it started to rain. Thunder, lightning, the whole package. I can hear the rain beating down on the tin roof. What an awesome sound.

 

Last week I spoke to a local farmer who is in his 80’s and he’s farmed in this district for all his life. He told me that he’s never seen a drought like this. He doesn’t want to check on his cattle anymore because he can’t bear to see them starve. My husband spoke to a young farmer who was in tears when he told him how hard it is for him to know that there isn’t enough food for his animals.

 

This is real life. This is where the tyre strikes the tar. Grown men don’t shed tears easily. When a man cries (especially a farmer) you know that his heart is hurting. Does God care? Does He send a drought to force us to get on our knees and become humble again or does He test our faith with harsh circumstances? I don’t know. I really, honestly don’t know. I do know that if things always go well with us we won’t need God and we won’t need miracles. We probably won’t even be thankful for what we have because we’ll take it for granted. I don’t think that God brings bad things over our paths to make us better people or that He tests us with things like disease. I do know that we as humans have free choice. I also know that God is love and that He would never do something bad to us. Romans 8:28 says that God lets all things work together for the good of those that love Him. So, if bad things happen to us and we keep holding onto God and His promises He will make it good for us in the end.

 

A beautiful rainbow representing one of God’s spectacular promises

 

There’s a song that says “Because He lives I can face tomorrow.” I believe that no matter what happens here on earth there is a bright future for us and if it’s not so bright here on earth it will certainly be very bright in Heaven where the streets are paved with gold.

 

If it only rains enough to wet the top layer of soil so be it. If it rains so much that everything is washed away and I have to start all over again that’s OK too. Because Jesus lives I will face tomorrow with a smile.