But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. (Jerremiah 17:7-8 NLT) Long months of drought. Heat that scorches and dries. Those are things that most of us want to avoid, not just 'survive', aren't they? The longer we live on this earth, the chances are good that we will endure some 'scorching heat' and 'drought'. If not in our natural world, then in our spiritual lives. The droughts in a spiritual sense are kind of like very dry seasons that are marked by us not really feeling all that 'connected' to God. It is like we just don't 'feel' his presence, much less feel like what we are doing to maintain that relationship is really 'working'. We might read our ...
Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. (I Peter 2:2-3 NLT) Newborn babes cry out when they are hungry, don't they? Having an empty belly as a baby is cause for concern, causing them to raise their cries in order to have their need met. In much the same way, we might just realize we are 'spiritually' quite hungry, running on almost empty, desperately needing a 'refill' of our 'spiritual tank'. We might find ourselves 'crying out', hungry for more of God's presence, desperate for a touch from him. When we cry out, do you think God hears us? Does he have the exact 'resource' we need in order for our 'hunger' to be met? Is he going to ignore our need and give us something entirely different? He hears, he responds, and he has exactly what we need, even when we don't realize...