Send My Roots Rain

Send My Roots Rain

Psalm 143:6 NKJV
I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah

Matthew 5:6 NKJV
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

   Enjoying a dinner of locally grown sweet corn is one of perks of living in NW Ohio.  A little butter and a little salt enhance the natural sweet flavor of the corn.  This year the balance of rain and heat must have been right because the corn we’ve had has been especially sweet.  
   I’m not a farmer, so during those times when there’s little or no rain doesn’t really worry me a lot.  But tending the gardens and lawns at the Library where I work I can see up close the results of a dry spell and I can see the difference when the rains fall in abundance.   There have been times when I’ve walked around the lawns and gardens and I’ve prayed, as earnestly as any farmer, “We need rain, Lord, when are You going to send us some?”
   And I feel the same way in my spiritual life at times.  The scorching rays of temptations and constant hot winds of this evil age wither my heart and dry out my soul.  During those times I turn my face towards heaven and pray, “I need your rain Lord, please water my roots.”
   Joel prophesied during a period of spiritual drought in Judah.  God allowed him to water the people with words of hope.  He spoke of the autumn and spring rains that God would send because He is righteous and faithful.  Joel 2:23
   Farmers may have to endure a spell of drought once in a while, but they can look ahead with hope knowing that the rains will come again.  God won’t withhold rain from His world forever.  And He won’t let His people suffer spiritual drought forever either because He has promised to deliver “everyone who calls on the name of the LORD.”  Joel 2:32
   Dry spells can sneak up on us at times.  We feel fine and things are going well and we don’t realize how dry our souls are getting.  We spend too little time in His Word and doze during the pastor’s sermon and go home and plop the Bible on a shelf where it sits for days and our roots begin to dry out and wither.  It’s all below the surface so no one notices at first.  But if the roots dry out, the plant will wither and die.  And if your roots dry out, your soul with wither, too.
   Farmers know that the occasional shower won’t help much when the crops are dry and beginning to wither.  A real soaking rain is needed and the water has to seep deep into the soil so the roots can rehydrate.  Your spiritual health isn’t helped much by an occasional Bible devotional reading and catching a sermon once a week.  You need more rain than that to keep your soul watered.  You need prayer time with your soul communing with God and you need time in the Word digging into the Scriptures and letting them teach you.
   Look around you and see what the topsoil looks like in your life.  Is your life getting dusty and dry?  If it is, you know that deep down your roots are dry, also.  Pray this prayer with me this week, “Lord God, look on my dry soul with mercy and send my roots rain.”


Stephen Cram                            June 10, 2012                     Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8