Rain in the desert

I remember when I was in elementary school. We learned about deserts. These hot, seemingly lifeless places where the heat was unbearable and even the winds were hot. There was life... but the life that was there had adapted to the harshest of living conditions.

Even the plants that were there were harsh and hardened by the elements. The predominant vegetation... the cactus. This food that has the potential to provide some nourishment, but it's covered with what can only be described as prickly needs to ward of giving help to those in need.

The thing that really interested me about deserts is that every once in a while... it rains.

When the water comes - life sprouts out of nowhere. You see animals and insects that you never thought were there. You see blooming flowers, and leaves... during this time the whole ecosystem comes to life.

Life, without God is a lot like a desert. People get hardened.

Even Christians sometimes forget that we have a source that can refresh us regardless of the circumstance and we become hardened as well.

The question that so many people ask is: "how do we keep from being hardened?"


Jesus said "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:38 ESV)


...delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
        (Psalm 1:2-3 ESV)

At any time,we can meditate on the Word of God and get refreshment. Sometimes, the words will be like a hard wind that will cause us to examine our lives, and other times it will be a refreshing water... but in the word of God we will always find what we need so that we can yield the fruit that God wants us to produce IN ITS SEASON.

Let us struggle to find that refreshment that only comes from the word of God so we can produce fruit to benefit those around us.