Thirst

My experiment in cultivating a “garden of Eden” in my backyard has taken on new challenges this summer as we have been in an extreme drought. Today marks the first official day of mandatory water restrictions that Durham residents must adhere to or be kicked out of North Carolina (ok, that might be an exaggeration, but they will cut off all water to my house if I break the restriction).

All year, I have worked really hard to give the plants their proper nourishment and water they need to grow deep, strong and healthy roots to survive our in our climate. I even have adhered to the voluntary water restrictions that our Governor has requested up until this point. However, on Wednesday as I was leaving my house, the boxwood bushes that we planted in our front yard had changed from green to completely brown. Not a leaf on them was green. They were literally dying of thirst even though I had been watering them. The stress of 100+ degree days without water meant the ground was so parched around the plants that the soil soaked up the moisture before the plant could. My heart sank, as I saw my investment drying up before my very eyes.

My boxwoods made me think about the state of my own soul when it faces stress. When life gets busy, I often find that I can survive for a while going through the motions spiritually, but eventually I wake up to find my soul withered and dry, like I found my boxwoods this week. When life gets busy, that’s when I really need God’s nourishment, yet the temptation I have is to put my spiritual life on the back burner. God can wait, because what I really need to do is get ______ done. After the busyness, I can get back to attending my soul to let God restore me by his quiet waters. Yet, this is always a lie. When I neglect my soul, when I keep it from drinking in God, I am choosing to die of thirst. That parched feeling in my soul during the stress and busyness of life is an indication that I am thirsty, and I need to drink deeply from God’s well.

Pray with me that we will be a community that learns to act on our thirst. Pray that we will be a people who learn to drink deeply from God’s well…especially during the most stressful times of life.