Dry Seasons

Five years ago next month we arrived in Dulce. During those first weeks we would look into the field south of the parsonage and see a dog moving about in the grass.  The dog was large and the grass was tall, and so often all that we could see of the dog would be glimpses of its back. To this day we still see the same dog, which we refer to as the "bear dog," because when we first saw it all that could be seen was bits of fur, and so we didn’t know if it was a large dog or a small bear. While bears are nice to watch from a safe distance we are glad that the bear dog is all dog.

This year the bear dog remains, but the grass is a different story. We had a dry winter, a dry spring and to this point it is a dry summer. There is hardly any grass.  A few patches of brush and weeds that could give cover to a Chihuahua, but not much else.  This is, by far, the driest it has been since we have been in Dulce. When I look at the south field, or the parsonage yard, or just about anywhere else in town that isn't being watered, I wonder if the grass can ever come back.

This past weekend Robin and I were talking about some of the people we know here who have been through, and in some case are in the midst right now, hard times of trial. One loss, one setback, one disappointment on top of another. How much suffering can a person, or a family bear?  How much drought can come into their lives until there is no life left?

Those are hard questions. Ones that I don’t have any answers for, at least not any that don’t ring hollow or sound trite.  What I do have is faith in a God who holds all things at all times, even when the evidence of that truth might be hard to see at the moment. 

When the weather is dry the remedy is water. Large areas may only be helped by rain, and I can’t force the rain. But a small area may be helped by something as simple as turning on a hose. For the dry seasons in a person's life the faucet is turned on by opening the pages of the Bible and beginning to read.

We begin to find life as we read God's word, and in particular the passages that tell us of the nature of God.  Yesterday someone asked me what to read for personal encouragement and I suggested Psalm 111.  Read it for yourself and see how the psalmist lifts up the character of God over and over. Psalm 111 is full of the wisdom that nourishes the soul.

I also made some hospital calls yesterday, reading Psalm 23 with two different people. It is another place where the author tells of how clearly God is present with him in all things, ending with words of everlasting hope,

"…and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Those are just two examples of true hope to be found in God's word. There are, literally, hundreds of places where a person can find encouragement and true life.

One day, and maybe soon, rain will certainly come to Dulce, and our dry season will end. We just don't know when that day will arrive. But for the dry seasons in life, true Living Water is as near as the pages of your Bible.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.