This summer, my husband and I started a new adventure – gardening.
At present, we have tons of teeny-tiny cucumbers and plump green tomatoes. But one thing we don’t have in northeast Mississippi is rain. It seems like it has been weeks since our last “good” downpour occurred.
Around here, it is dusty, dry, and hot. Somehow, every year, I forget how fast the temps increase. And this year, we must consider our garden’s health and well-being. That means until the rain comes, daily we’re forced to walk to the garden – hose in hand – and water our plants.
But you can’t water anytime throughout the day! Nope. That would be too easy. Instead, you have to wait until the sun sinks low or until it rises. Otherwise, there is risk of scorching our plants.
Last night, as we tended our little field of green – I heard my husband say, “I sure wish it would rain!”
I agreed with him. After all, it sure would help save time in our nightly routine. But in the same breath, I felt the sudden urge to put my hand over his mouth and keep him from repeating that statement.
Yes, I want water from the sky to help me tend our plants.
No, I do not want any more pressing issues to befall us.
Lately, I’ve learned that life is full of stormy seasons. On the sunny side, it’s easier to see how the Lord used the rain for growth. However, during those tumultuous moments, it feels more like a tsunami than sprinkling rainstorms. As they say, “When it rains, it pours!”
But what do we do in the drought?
What happens when the doctors give bad news, marriages get rocky, or unshakeable depression strikes? What do we do when we find ourselves begging for prayers to be answered, but the Lord remains silent?
A lot of us, cling tightly to one of the most quoted Bible verses. Jeremiah 29:11 says:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
While it is comforting to know He has an overarching plan, there is more to this passage. Jeremiah 29:12-13 follows by saying:
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
It says that we must call, come, and pray. But it gets even deeper than that. It says that the only way that we can find Him is if we’re seeking Him with all of our hearts.
Not a sliver, not a piece – our whole entire heart must want Him.
If we’re willing to trust Him with our hope and future, we should trust Him with the waiting, pain, and doubt. Because if we can’t rest in Him, who can help? I’ve found that while our loved ones offer comfort or kind words during trying times – they cannot heal our troubled souls.
Surely, our faith is tested during the drought. But it is where He shows us who He is – it’s where we grow.
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you (Luke 17:5-6).
I don’t know about you, but that phrase “If you had faith,” gets me every time. We know that we serve a God that overcame the grave. But do we have the strength and faith to unwaveringly know that He’s – through the good and bad – in control of our future?
Just like our garden, our spiritual lives need water at times. But it’s learning to thrive in the drought that brings forth ultimate reliance on our Creator.
