Drought

The grass crunches under my feet as I walk over the lawn. The sound signals drought. Not nearly as bad as in the US mid-west, but we in Southern Ontario are in the midst of a severe shortage of rain. Farmers are hurting. Lawns are dying. Fires are banned in campgrounds.

In spite of daily dragging the hose from one flowerbed to the next, the daisies and black-eyed susans are wilting. The parched ground quickly gobbles up any water I can deliver. And as the drought lengthens I regret my decision in the spring to beautify the yard with pots of flowers, each of which requires an evening soaking. Along with the flowers, I keep a close eye on my vegetable garden. Nothing must keep me from reaping a bumper crop of tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers. But will my efforts be enough?

Fortunately, we have a well that has never run dry. Springs from higher on the hillside feed the ever-flowing creek at the bottom of our property and continually replenish the well. But surely, there must be a point of no return when the springs will shrink to a minuscule trickle.

Spiritually, many places seem to be experiencing drought. Yet, all those who embrace Jesus as Savior and Lord need have no fear of being parched by a dearth of the Living Water. This was what Jesus offered the Samaritan woman at the well. “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water…[it] will become in [any recipient] a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Such a spring quenches our inner soul thirst for forgiveness and acceptance. (See John 4)

On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood in the temple and cried; “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (Jn. 7:37,38). How wonderful it is to have that burning thirst within satisfied by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit who mediates all the blessings of God.

Jesus was quoting Isaiah, written centuries before. “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring” (Isaiah 44:3). In the imagery of Isaiah, salvation is like a well from which we draw upon God’s inexhaustible grace. “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3).

If we have been born again by faith in Jesus Christ, we can draw deeply and daily from that well. And let us all continue to pray for relief from the drought.