When Spiritual Drought Becomes the Norm

Lake oroville in northern california: top is current condition; bottom is during the worst drought conditions a few years ago

For the past few years, my home state, California, have been in an extreme drought. We've had water conservation mandates with numerous prohibitions and been given water restrictions with additional surcharges for going over the allotted amount per household.

Because of the extreme drought, I've grown accustomed being overly-conscious of how much water we use. I time the kids' showers, make sure everyone doesn't keep the running water while brushing teeth and cut back drastically on watering the lawn.  Brown grass and dying trees were once alarming sights, but have now become part of life.

 But the past three months, we have had record rainfall due to a number of recent winter storms, The U.S. Drought Monitor has removed the designation of “exceptional drought” for California. While we are not out of the woods yet, it's nice to see life blossoming.

I didn't even realize how I became used to seeing drought conditions around me until the grass, plants and trees started growing. 

This made me think of my own life and those areas that need to be watered. I've gotten so accustomed to the spiritual drought in some areas that were once flourishing.  It's easy to focus on the parts of my life that are overflowing while accepting the drought conditions as uncontrollable or just a part of life. Just getting by has become the mantra for me where that was never the case. But the Word of God assures us that we don't have to settle for the drought. Zechariah 10:1 says:

Ask the Lord for rain
In the time of the latter rain.
The Lord will make flashing clouds;
He will give them showers of rain,
Grass in the field for everyone.

Even in the time of the latter rain (the rainy season), we can ask God for more rain! There is no excuse to tolerate drought in any area of our lives because God stands ready to help us flourish. My prayer is: Lord, may I never get so familiar with the drought season that I look at it as the norm.