By: Ginger Hughes
The skies gloomy and gray, bestow a slow and steady rain this day.
It’s comforting really. That sound, so soft, as the raindrops land gently on the ground. The leaves on the trees do a little dance as drops land and cascade down their green fullness, dropping onto the next and the next until they reach the earth. The rain watering the soil feels so similar to God’s blessings watering our souls. The rain steadily soaking into the parched earth gifts plants and animals with the source of life; and God, in similar vein, bestows mercy, grace, and love upon the parched landscape of our lives. Can you feel it seeping in, saturating, filling up, and overflowing?
The world around us is dry indeed. Even those of us who profess Christ feel the ache of intense thirst at times; a barrenness in our soul that seems to prevent the growth of anything good. A parched spirit that is so depleted you feel you can give nothing more. A withered heart dried up by too many unkept promises and unrealized dreams.
We are too guilty to be redeemed, we think. We are too used up to feel the fullness of joy. We are too insignificant to be of any use. We are too broken to be restored. We are too un-loveable to be loved. Each of these arrows the Enemy uses to pierce our hearts and souls.
And you know the Enemy would be right, except for this.
The Truth says, “I have redeemed you, and you are mine,” and it soaks through, relieving the guilt.
The Savior says, ”I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full,” and it seeps in filling the cracks of despair and sorrow.
The Lord says, “For I know the plans I have for you…” and it permeates the broken places, soothing our uncertainty and pointing toward our divine purpose.
The Creator says, “You are clay in the potter’s hands,” and it saturates, healing our brokenness and restoring our soul.
Our God says, “For I so loved you that I gave my only Son…” and it seeps in, quenching the thirst and filling our soul to overflowing.
The soul needs God’s gifts to rain down just like the soil needs God’s rain. Listen for it today. Look for it. Close your eyes and ask God for it. And then surrender your heart and allow His blessings to wash over you.
John 4:13 NIV – “Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life’.”
-Ginger Hughes is the wife of a pastor, a mother of two and an accountant. She is a Georgia native currently living in the foothills of North Carolina. Her passion for writing is fueled by the desire to offer encouragement, grace and a deeper understanding that we are all God’s children. Her blogging for Nurturing Faith is sponsored by a gift from First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Ga. Additional writings may be found at nomamasperfect.com.
Director of the Jesus Worldview Initiative at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and former executive editor and publisher at Good Faith Media.