DROUGHT TIME

The old cowboy song, "Cool Water" is about a man who is traveling through a water-less dessert.  In it you hear his desperation, his great thirst and longing.  The stars at night look like pools of shiningwater.  The only thing that gets him up in the morning to begin his journey anew is the hope of water,  the vision of "..that big green tree where the water runs free.  Cool. Clear. Water."

In Jeremiah 14:1-9, we read a story about a serious drought in ancient Israel.  It is a desperate time.  The public cisterns have run dry; there are no more reserves of water.  Even animals are suffering, as the deer abandon their own newborns because there isn't enough food to nurse their young.

Then, as now, in our own time of drought, our faith is challenged.  Where will we place our hope.  Will it be in ourselves or the government or something else or will we take our stand on what we know and believe about God.

Isaiah 30:18 says:

… the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!       (Amplified Bible)

Ah, waiting.  Now there's the rub.  It's hard to wait when the sky darkens and the thunder rumbles and there's little or no rain.  It's hard to wait for prayers to be answered within the urgency of browning grass and the ominous farm reports.

Yet waiting is all we can do.  But rather than wait in fear and despair, we can wait in trust in hope, giving God the room to do what God pleases when God pleases to do it, knowing that God's pleasure is our good and our welfare.

Rain doesn't come often to the desert, but when it does, the desert comes alive.  Plants bloom, and seeds and even fairy shrimp eggs that have lain dormant bring forth life.

So, too, when God is at work for the good of God's beloved children, God brings forth life.  The bills will get paid, people will be fed, broken hearts will be mended, relationships will be reconciled, peace will be restored and hope, compassion and mercy will bloom like beautiful flowers.

God makes this promise to us in Jeremiah 32:40-41:

I will make an everlasting covenant with them, never to stop treating the graciously.  I will put into their hearts a sense of awe for me so that they won't turn away from me.  I will rejoice in treating them graciously, and I will plant them in this land faithfully and with all my heart and being.  (CEB)

In spite of the drought, in spite of what else may be happening in our lives or in the world, God is still God.  God longs to be gracious to us and always keeps God's promises to us.  

So, let us give thanks that no matter what, God is still God, steadfast and true.  We'll continue to pray and wait in hope, expecting that God will answer our prayers.  Let us stand firm our faith, and be open to the ways God will bless us.