Me: Hi Prodigal, What are you doing out here today?
Prodigal: Just enjoying the Mangrove Trees and how they love to soak up the water around them.
Me: Yes, they do but not all crops would like that much rain.
Prodigal: Really? I want to hear you explain that.
I will share a short devotion from God’s Little Devotional Book for Women.
Many people see abundant spring rains as a great blessing to farmers, especially if the rains come after the plants have sprouted and are several inches tall. What they don’t realize is even a short drought can have a devastating effect on a crop of seedlings that have received too much rain.
Why? Because during frequent rains, the young plants are not required to push their roots deeper into the soil in search of water. If a drought occurs later, plants with shallow root systems will quickly die.
We often receive abundance into our lives–rich fellowship, great teaching, deep “soakings” of spiritual blessings. Yet, when stress or tragedy enters our lives, we may find ourselves thinking God has abandoned us or is unfaithful. The fact is, we have allowed the “easiness” of our lives to keep us from pushing our spiritual roots deeper. We have allowed others to spoon-fed us, rather than to develop our own deep personal relationship with God through prayer and study on His Word.
Only the deeply rooted are able to endure hard times without wilting. The best advice is to enjoy the “rain” while seeking to grow even closer to Him.
I have seen this a lot. The ones that I see in counseling who have the greatest struggle are the ones who grew up in their Christian walk with little or no trials. They have no spiritual well that they have had to dig during tough times. They have not had to cry out in desperation to the Lord with tears flowing and no hope of standing up if the Lord does not answer you now. There is a different walk with the Lord when you have had those moments on your own and you are not just hearing about this from others. The Lord then becomes real and is your lifeline. His word becomes real!
Psalm 18:6
In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
