A Drought Resistant Life

I can count on one hand the number of times it has rained this summer, even including a few meager attempts at drizzling.  The lawns faded into a grey pallor long ago, crunchy underfoot like shredded wheat.  The leaves on the bushes had crawled into a fetal position as if trying to hide from the hot sun.  Even weeds being pulled gave up the fight, their roots unable to resist removal, the dirt crumbly and loose.  Already at the end of August, leaves are falling from the trees, too weak to even turn colors, unable to hold on for another month until autumn can come.  The woman who cuts my hair said that her husband was even ticketed last week by the village for watering their lawn at the wrong time on the wrong day.  There was a hefty fine. 

When I emerged from church yesterday morning, the pavement was shiny and wet.  It was raining.  And I didn’t hear one word of complaint.  Quite the contrary, there was almost that special hush as when discovering beautiful flakes of snow decorating the trees and dancing in the breeze.  People didn’t even rush through the rain to their cars, few umbrellas even visible as we were so taken by surprise.  I walked to the parking lot slowly, feeling the cool drops roll down my arms.  And as I drove home, I listened to the rain hit the windshield and top of my car, sounding like the thunderous applause of creation.  “And all the trees of the field clapped their hands,” as it says in Isaiah 55.12.  The thirst of the earth was being quenched.

I will never again think of rain as an inconvenience.

Man still has yet to have any control over the weather – and it seems at times not even the ability to accurately forecast.  But from ancient times God has directed His people to a drought-resistant life, ready and able to endure WHEN the drought in life comes to your house.  Deep roots are nurtured through a daily nourishing in His Word, continual prayer, and fellowship with His faithful.  It is not a magic formula or a ritual, but spending time with God.  And through it, God creates in us an inner strength that is not our own and not dependent on outward conditions.  It is a peace, a joy, a sustaining, even amidst the storms or drought of life, deep roots already in place.   And when surrounded by despair all around and within, I hear His voice saying, “You are going to be all right.”

It rained all day.  And this morning, puddles reflected the deep blue sky on what had been my dusty running path.  And even the foliage shed its sackcloth and ashes, the trees raising their renewed limbs decorated in new green outfits, rejoicing and thankful.

 

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,

whose trust is the LORD.

He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.

                           Jeremiah 17. 7-8