Water My Garden...PLEASE!

This is an actual picture of the Dust Bowl that took place in 1935.
Those are not mountains behind those houses they are clouds of dirt.

Many of us either weren’t alive or can’t remember the particular time in our history known as the “Dust Bowl” era. With the onset of drought in 1930, the over-farmed and over-grazed land began to blow away. Winds whipped across the plains raising billowing clouds of dust. The sky could darken for days and even well-sealed homes could have a thick layer of dust on the furniture. In some places, the dust drifted like snow covering farm buildings and houses. Over 30 states in the heartland of the United States became a vast dust bowl.
Then on April 14, 1935 a new day literally dawned clear across the plains. After weeks of dust storms, including one at the end of March which destroyed five million acres of wheat, people were so grateful to see the sun. Many went outside to do chores, go to church and to picnic and sun themselves under the blue skies. In mid-afternoon, the temperature dropped and birds began chattering nervously. Suddenly a huge black cloud appeared on the horizon approaching fast. At first it seemed as if rainfall might be approaching the desolate lands but then it was realized that the cloud approaching was once again a cloud of dirt. It was the worst storm yet, it was known as Black Sunday.
There have been times in my life when I feel as if spiritually I am standing in the midst of one of those storms. The air around me is thick with muck and my loved ones seem to have been lost in the storm. I can’t see clearly, I can’t hear clearly, and all I can think about is keeping the dirt of this world out of my own spiritual temple. Sound familiar?
In the book of Hosea, the 6^th chapter contains a great promise that I hold onto in times like these.

1 "Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; he has injured us but He will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His presence. 3 Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:1-3

You see in the midst of all that is going wrong, God still promised the nation of Israel that He would be their healer, their reviver, their restorer, and their living water.

You might be in the midst of one of these storms right now. The Christian community likes to call them a “crisis of belief.” It is when all you once knew, no longer seems true. All that you thought brought life is now only a reminder of what you once had. There you sit wondering if life will ever make sense again. Take heart dear one. It will. For it is out of the living water that we will be healed, restored, and revived. Believe it!
Do you remember when you accepted Christ to be the Lord over your life? There was something in you that cried out for a Savior. Like me, you probably had to stop trying to make sense of it all and accept that a Savior was right there for the taking. You had to decide to believe. Listen to what Colossians 2:6 says…
"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him."
Could part of that “continuing” be that we have to stop trying to make sense of it all and just believe there is One who will bring rain to our dry and parched land? The“crisis of belief” we experienced at the time of our conversion is not much different that our "crisis of belief" in the midst of our own dust bowl. Where He whispers so gently in our ear, as a Father who is trying to quiet His child, “Take heart dear one, I am close at hand. Quietness and trust is your strength. Come return to me.“
I am always encouraged when I stand on the cliff of life overlooking the places He has made green again and realize that the flow of living water isn’t dependent on coincidence.
"The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail." Isaiah 58:11


Blessed to be His!
Kim