Drop The Water!

“For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:” (Isa 44:3 AV)

This promise is to believing Israel.  It is prophetical.  This prophecy regards redeemed Israel at the time of their Messiah.  It is a promise from God to His people that when the Messiah comes, they will be tenderly cared for.  God will fill their water basins, streams, rivers, and lakes.  He will water the land that it will bring forth abundantly.  But most of all, He will spiritual fill them like no one else can.  They will have learned through hard lessons of rejection that God is the best choice for them.  They will repent of the rebellion and place all their trust in the LORD Jesus Christ.  God will honor the covenant He made with them thousands of years prior and water the land both literally and spiritually.  Does that mean the New Testament saint has no application here?  Not at all.  Jesus says the same thing.  “In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” (Joh 7:37 AV) And again, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Re 22:17 AV) The idea is simple.  Those who thirst after the presence, strength, blessings, etc. of God will be satisfied by the fountain He provides.

Where I live, the ground can get dry and cracked.  We are coming up on that season.  It rains and rains for several months.  It snows for four months.  When June through August come about, all it takes is a couple of hot weeks with no rain and the ground looks like the salt flats of the desert west.  It astounds me every time I see it.  My mind cannot compute the dryness of the ground compared to all the moisture it receives in the spring, fall, and winter.  How can the ground dry out so much?  How can it turn into a surface harder than a rock?  It doesn’t make sense.  I tried to grow a bush.  Failed twice.  Two times I tried to grow a bush that needed shade and plenty of water.  Both died.  I watered and watered it.  I tried to keep it alive.  But the nature of the soil meant that all that water was draining away.  The ground got dry and cracked, anyway.  Now I am on my third try with a different species.  This bush has tripled in size in just two short months.  I think we might have a keeper.  Watering is still essential.  Water is everything.  If that plant does not have water, it cannot survive.  Sound familiar?

When I read this verse, I could not help but internalize the truth.  There are times when my soul is dirt dry.  There are times when ministry, life, or the world sap almost everything I have.  I need a deep draw of water.  The picture I get in my head is a summer downpour.  Living close to Niagara Falls, the majority of my childhood, we have these awesome summer downpours.  The sky would be blue, littered with puff clouds.  Suddenly, we would have a downpour under a blue sky.  There would be one or two puff clouds from which this shower came.  It was really cool.  We would run around in the rain to cool off and the steam would rise from our blacktopped streets.  Soaking wet, we would cool off.  That is what the presence of God is like.  This is what He has promised.  Amid the troublous times of life, He sends His showers of strength, refreshing, and blessing.  God is good!  All the time!