The satellite images of England this summer were quite startling. England’s “green and pleasant land” looked parched and barren from outer space. Eventually the nation was officially registered as living in drought conditions.
In the mist of all of this, the TV presenter, Jeremy Clarkston, came in for some media attention (nothing unusual there!). The reason was that his Cotswolds pub maintained a lush green lawn through this season of drought. However, in order for this to happen it transpired that he had drilled roughly 100 metres underground to access private groundwater. This private borehole was legal because it avoided the local mains with the accompanying hosepipe bans.
In the final chapter of the prophecy of Habakkuk he imagines living in a season of drought. Here is what he says,
“Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places.”
(Hab. 3:17-19)
What a truly remarkable statement of trust in the Lord. Habakkuk’s outward circumstances were bleak and barren but inwardly his soul was flourishing and thriving. Habakkuk chose to rejoice in the Lord. He made a conscious decision to hope in God. He knows the Lord therefore focuses on the character of God.
It echoes what Jeremiah said in his prophecy:
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
(Jeremiah 17:7-8)
What about us? Leaving aside the literal drought that England experienced, how do we as believers flourish today in what can be a spiritually barren landscape? Well, there are ancient streams that we can bore down to that will help us thrive and flourish in the drouth (to quote an old Scottish word).
I’ll mention four in this blog because I believe they complement each other. The first is:
➡️ Study Scripture
It is of crucial importance that we feed on the God’s Word daily to maintain spiritual health. The gateway to the Psalms (Psalm 1) captures this perfectly:
“Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his 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 1:1-3)
And secondly,
➡️ Seek God in Prayer
We sang the old hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus” at church yesterday and it reminds us of this precious gift God has given us:
What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
The next two streams accompany the first two if our souls are to flourish and thrive. Let me illustrate it the following way. Outside the town of Dalry where I grew up there is a dam known as the Auldmuir Reservoir. I recall walking up to it when I was young. Next to the reservoir I discovered a large pond which was full of stagnant water. The dam was full of fresh water while the pond clearly wasn’t. The reason for this was that the reservoir had an outlet which kept the water fresh while the pond only had an inlet and it eventually became stagnant. Our souls will be healthy if there is an intake of God’s Word accompanied by the following two outlets:
➡️ Shepherd Others
The Lord calls us to encourage and feed the truth we have within our community, church and family.
➡️ Share the Gospel
He also calls us to be active in spreading the gospel message with others.
These four streams will go a long way to counteract spiritual drought in our lives.
John Newton expressed it this way in his paraphrase of Psalm 87:
See, the streams of living waters,
springing from eternal love,
well supply thy sons and daughters
and all fear of want remove.
Who can faint while such a river
ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord, the Giver,
never fails from age to age.
And Jesus came as the fulfilment of all the Old Testament promised…
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
(John 7:37-38).
(picture - waterfall near Kyleshu)
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