DROUGHT

As the deer panteth for the water...

This post was suggested by my co-worker who has this bird that illustrates our spiritual nature. This bird balances tenuously on a fragile frame. He is hollow and only able to move because of the water within him. When he abstains too long, he dries out, he droops, he shakes. Then, so slowly, hesitantly, he approaches the source of sustenance, perversely holding back as long as he can from imbibing.

Then, he falls forward (as onto his knees) and plunges his face into the water. He soaks it up and it pours into him, reviving him.

He throws back his head in joy! He nods in gratitude. Rocking in bliss. Aren't we like this?

These are hard times in Texas. We are in deep drought.

We seek shade and wait.

Drought is Biblical.
1 Kings 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years EXCEPT AT MY WORD."

We need the Word of the LORD worse than water in our land.

Job 12:15 If He holds back the waters, there is drought; if He lets them loose, they devastate the land.

Jeremiah 14:1 They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives'?

Haggai 1:11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.'

The young know nothing else. They have not seen green pastures in their day.

The fields are stripped; and the farmers so desperate they are feeding corn stalks.

The creatures look to us, for we are their gods. In their barren spaces only we can save them.

The wild hogs and deer travel to find forage and seeps.

Brushpiles grow as trees die. We cannot burn them.

Firetrucks and firefighters work overtime.

Whereas usually cows would be on pasture, all around us the grass is gone. Hay is going for $120 a round bale, and most folks can't afford to buy it for their cattle. They are taking them to auction. The lines of trailers at the auctions are blocks long. Extra sales are being held to handle the volume. Ranchers are selling off their best stock.

Those who are determined to keep a few head must carry feed to them and fill troughs. Tanks are drying up. The water in the bottom of them is not drinkable.

Weeds are flourishing in the gardens where water is still provided.

This is our showerhead. We are taking outdoor showers. The runoff makes a patch of green in the hardpan.

Buck is privileged to mow it for us.

Toads gather in the shower during the night.

I do not criticize Him for the means He chooses to cause us to turn to Him. I know that there are more folks turning to Him, calling out to Him, looking to Him to save them. He has our attention; we know in our parched souls that without Him we shall perish. He must slake our thirst. He alone can lead us through this drought both physically and spiritually.