Scorched

I typically love anything to do with being outdoors. Lately, not so much. It is hotter than hot and how do we even know what “hotter than hot” actually means? It’s extremely hot. The heat is so intense that my flip flops stick to the pavement on my driveway. The heat is so hot that walking from my backdoor to the garage generates sweat beads that roll down my back and my hair – well, let’s just say – isn’t nice. Not only are we experiencing extreme heat, but it has also been over forty days since we’ve seen any significant rain. Being outdoors is almost impossible.

If I can’t “be” outside, the next best thing is sitting in the air-conditioning of my living room – looking at the outdoors. I normally see a lot of squirrels scurrying about the large oaks in my yard, but today, I assume they are hiding from the beams of heat – aka – the sun as they are nowhere to be found. I don’t see birds but I see leaves fluttering through the air as their hosts are letting them go in order to survive. The landscape makes me sad. My plants are dying. Some are already dead and need to be pulled up. I see the yellowed wheat-colored patches of dead grass that are normally green, lush and alive with nutrients. I see whatever leaves are left on trees and shrubs curled up in a desperate attempt to conserve and protect themselves from the brutal sun and lack of water. As I look at the struggling and dying world in front of me, the Holy Spirit whispers “it didn’t get this way overnight.”

I’ve thought about that for a couple of days and it is simply this….what we see with our eyes – this drought and extreme dry heat - is visual of the spiritual condition of our world. I keep hearing the word “scorched”. Humor me with my need to give the definition of “scorched” - the burning or charring of the surface of something, burn the surface of something with flame or heat. The word can be used as a verb and/or a noun and its origin is probably from an old Norse word “skorpna” which means – be shriveled. Interestingly – shriveled means to become or make shrunken and wrinkled, often by dying, to lose or cause to lose vitality or intensity, to become or make much less or smaller; dwindle. What stands out to me the most is that the definitions suggest a process. I realize this isn’t rocket science but looking through the lens of the Holy Spirit, our spiritual aspects of life become much more focused.

Truth is that our world has become a dry and thirsty land. The heat of this “new age” is literally scorching our spiritual land. If we believe in the spiritual aspect of our existence, then what we see with spiritual eyes should give us pause. This message is not from a gloom and doom position, but rather, from a position of encouragement. We are encouraged by the truth of God’s Word found in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that states, “IF” my people, who are called by My name, will HUMBLE themselves and pray and seek my face and TURN from their wicked ways, THEN I will hear from heaven, and I WILL FORGIVE their sin and will heal their land.” (emphasis mine)

Isaiah 41:17 “The poor and needy search for water; but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord, will answer them; I, the God of Israel will not forsake them.

The Word of God records many periods of drought. While he was in the wilderness of Judah, David wrote Psalm 63:1 “My whole being longs for You in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”

I can list many more ….Psalm 68:6; Isaiah 9:19, Jeremiah 9:10-12, Matthew 13:6. Mark 4:6, Revelation 16:9, Daniel 2:27, Isaiah 44:3, John 7:38, Acts 2:39…

We know we need rain for our physical world but how much more do we need the Holy Spirit for spiritual health. God’s Word encourages us to examine ourselves, to look at the areas in our own heart that are dry, scorched, dying. The Holy Spirit longs to revive those areas where we’ve lost our vitality. He longs to intensify the power of God in our daily walk. We are given the solution to our spiritual drought by turning away from the world’s way of doing life to seeking God and His ways. He is the source of living water – water that never runs dry.

I pray you will join me as I purpose to have a contrite heart, to run from compromise, to embrace conviction, to say no to the ways of the age and yes to the ways of God. God is faithful to meet us in our droughted condition and He longs to refresh, restore and sustain us. Proverbs 1:23 instructs us to “Turn you at my reproof, behold I will pour out my spirit upon you. I will make known my words to you.”

May we be so filled with the Spirit of our Lord that no matter the condition of our environment – we are full of living water – ready to pour out from a source that never runs dry. Shalom.