Psalm 68:9; “You watered the land
with plenty of rain, O God. You refreshed it when your land was exhausted.”
We have spent the last couple of days having some very welcome rain. It is interesting to watch the people
interact now after a summer of adequate to a little above adequate when we
started the spring as dry as anyone could remember. It was amazing to watch the mood and the
spirits lift when the rain began to fall.
A drought saps energy and saps life.
This is true in both your physical life and in your spiritual life. As we watch the tragedy in California and its
drought, they are seeing tree limbs simply breaking off of the tree. They assume the drought is causing this. One branch broke and landed on a tent and
killed some children sleeping in the tent.
Drought does this; it destroys.
When you live on the plains of the United States, you recognize and live
with the cycle of too little rain, just right rain, too much rain, then too
little rain. Even though we know this
pattern and experienced it over and over; it still causes frustration, sadness,
depression, emptiness and a general despair.
Even when we know it will end; we struggle going through it. The parchedness of the time seems to drain us
of our spirit and hope. Life can be the
same way.
Many times, when we are travelling the dry times of life, we feel the
sapping of our energy and the depression of our heart. These times might occur when we have health
problems; or a spouse or family member dies but it can also occur at times when
an argument or other hurt feelings can strain a relationship. We can experience dryness within our heart
and carry a parched soul. This dryness
leads us into a desert of loneliness and emptiness. We go on and on with nothing in sight and
feeling a hopelessness that lingers in our soul that saps us of our energy and
makes us prone to cracking and breaking.
We need the life giving nourishment that this refreshing rain delivers.
Into this parched and hopeless land came Jesus. Sent by his Father to bring about healing and
to bring about hope, Jesus gives us the reviving water. Jesus poured out his blood that we might have
life. Jesus poured out his blood that we
might have hope. Jesus refreshes with
his blood poured out so that we may look ahead and look to the glory that is
ours as we wait to be completed and made whole.
God, in his mercy, pours out upon us this life giving rain in the form
of his forgiveness of our sin. Our sin
is what separates us from God and leads us into the desert to suffer a parched
existence. But God keeps calling us
back, refreshing us with his forgiveness, his peace and his promise of
everlasting life. Come and be refreshed
by his love.
Father,
you refresh us through the blessing of your love and through your mercy. Revive us by your Spirit that we may grow
ever closer to you. Give to us the
desire to follow your will and to live in your kingdom. Guard us on our journey. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor
Bret
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