Looking Back to Something I Wrote in the Summer...

From the summer…

It has been oppressively dry around here lately. Temperatures have soared into the 90-degree range, have hovered there for weeks, and the only thing that has come along is a passing afternoon heat shower. People have been trying to keep watch on lawns and gardens while taking care that they themselves don’t get overheated and dehydrated trying to take care of the lawns and gardens. Everyone has been watching for relief, for the right cloud to pass over and bring a break from the drought. Everything has been thirsty.

Then, last night, relief came. It rained…then again today, a few times. The rains have come back for a time.

I was thinking about that last night when I was looking at the last great annual feast of the nation of Israel, the Feast of Tabernacles. The feast was to celebrate the way that God provided for the Israelites as they wandered through the desert after being brought out of bondage in Egypt; it was a time to remember the provision and deliverance of God. The feast also took place at the time of the year when the rainy season was about to begin. All eyes were upon the skies as the anticipation built for the life-giving rain. Throughout the feast, water was poured from a golden pitcher into a basin in the court of the Jewish Temple. This water symbolized the providence of God and reminded Israel of their dependence upon the LORD for survival and sustenance, both in the nation’s past and present. During this ceremony, Psalms were sung. One of the main Psalms recited was 118, one which contains verses that point to the coming of the Messiah (the Anointed One, the Deliverer). On the last day of the feast, the celebration surrounding the water-pouring ceremony was more elaborate than any of the previous days. Everyone was focused upon the beginning of the rainy season and the promise of the One who would be sent by God as the great Deliverer, the One who was the fulfillment of the thirst for eternal provision…

“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37, 38).

These were asking for the provision of God, and God was in their midst to answer. Jesus was saying, “You’re anticipating the Messiah? I’m the only One who can meet your deepest level of spiritual thirst.”

Maybe the skies in your life have been as cloudless and stark recently. Perhaps the rains have not come as you have anticipated that they would. Maybe, like the ground around here lately, you’re just thirsty and dry. “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink…”

Dustin C. George
Minister to Single Adults