Desert Blooms

Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”  And the word of the Lord came to him: “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.  You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”  So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan.  And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.  And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

1 Kings 17:1-7

Here in Southern New England, our summer started out very cool and rainy.  Coming after last summer's severe draught, it was certainly welcome, even though the rainy, cold weather somewhat shortened our summer season here.  Although, we seem to be enjoying a warmer than normal September.  So I guess in the end it all balanced out.

I guess you could say we picked a good year to plant a garden again, taking full advantage of the rains the Lord provided.  

We used special garden planter boxes that were about four feet high.  Unfortunately or fortunately, however your glass is filled,  or in this case the planter is filled, we forgot to put peat moss at the bottom before filling the containers with garden soil, which would have helped reserve the moisture from the rains.  You see we placed our garden on the south side, a little too close to the house, and as a result, the heat from the sun radiated off the house, which negatively effected the garden plants.  

The fortunate part of both of these "fails" is that we learned from them and will know better for next year what to fill the containers with and where to place the containers in our yard.

We did get a few delicious bowls of garden leaf lettuce, a few tomatoes, which seeds said they were cherry tomatoes, but ended up being full size tomatoes, two zucchini, and a bunch of delicious carrot nuggets.  Yes you read that right.  Instead of growing deep, and they did have plenty of room, lol, they just grew into nuggets.  

So in the instance of our garden, too much sun and heat exposure caused it to wilt and die out quicker  which resulted in a low yield of produce.

Our flowers, on the other hand, suffered from too much rain!  

At first we thought the critters were eating the flowers off the tops of the plants, but then I would notice the flowers would reappear if it didn't rain for a couple of days.  Then the torrential rains would come again, and the flowers would disappear.  As this weather pattern continued the flowers took a beating and I just gave up on them.  They started to turn yellow and some turned brown.

And then just a couple of weeks ago,  despite the fact that my geranium had been dried up and lifeless in the hanging basket, this happened...

And in my planters on the back deck, this happened...

Even though the rest of the summer featured draught-like conditions, and I had already given up on these flowers, neither the harsh conditions nor my neglect could keep them from blooming.

I always thought that water was key for plant survival, but I think because in both the case of our garden containers and our flower boxes, not having the peat moss there to help absorb and store the moisture as well as protect the roots from over-watering, it was just too much of a good thing.

There is a spiritual lesson of hope here...

When we experience draughts in life, whether they be spiritual, emotional or physical, we can feel dried up and shriveled.  We may experience hopelessness or even despair wondering if we will ever see the rains again...  But as my summer flowers proved, when the Holy Spirit lives within us, He IS sustaining and nourishing us, and we will bloom again.

The hard part is that when we are in a season of draught, we may not perceive our souls being nourished by the experience.

We may be so consumed in our situations, that God even feels far away.  Suffering does that, doesn't it?  It makes us feel isolated, not only from God, but even from our friends and family.

Yet, take heart, there are many accounts in the Bible about the people of God going through seasons of draught, extreme in many cases, but in the end, we can see the beautiful blooms of increased Faith and blessing to others.

• The Apostle John was exiled to Patmos where he received the words of the Book of Revelation.

• The Apostle Paul was imprisoned, but the Word of the Lord went out in even more power. 

• Job lost everything, yet in the end was blessed with twice as much as he had before. 

• Joseph was thrown into a pit and left for dead by his brothers, wrongly imprisoned, yet ended up saving a nation from famine.

In every one of these situations, the Lord was sustaining and providing for them while they walked through the draught...

 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus. On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, saying, “Write in a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”…

Revelation 1:9-11

On receiving this order, he placed them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.…

Acts 16:24-26

And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.  Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.

 And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. 

Job 42:10-12

Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, "This is what your slave did to me," his anger burned. So Joseph's master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.…

Genesis 39:20-21

Oh what a Savior we have, He never leaves us or forsakes us, and never wastes any circumstance, but brings about beauty from ashes...  

Even if the draught is caused by our own neglect, He has the power to raise up blooms of Faith and Obedience once again within us.

It may take longer if we continue in disobedience, like the Israelites who wondered in the desert for 40 years, before they were allowed to enter the promised land...

After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant: 

“Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! Cross the Jordan River! Lead these people 

into the land which I am ready to hand over to them.  I am handing over to you 

every place you set foot, as I promised Moses. 

Joshua 1:1-3

But when we continually walk in obedience, the Holy Spirit helps us to absorb the life-giving Words of the Lord, to store up and treasure in our hearts...  The peat moss of our souls...

Just as the peat moss in the plantar box needs water first in order to hold it for later when there is no rain, so we need to drink from the well of Jesus Word daily, so that we are prepared for life's draughts.

Then, when the draughts of life come, we will apprehend more quickly life-giving nourishment for our souls from the Holy Spirit and be sustained even though on the outside we may feel like we are dried up and shriveled.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, 

yet our inner self is being renewed day by day. For our light and temporary affliction is producing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs our troubles.…

2 Corinthians 4:16-17

And just like that, our draught will pass, and we will bloom once again for God's eternal glory.

The next time you find yourself in a season of draught, remember that every circumstance that effects you only does so by the Lord's permission and for your good.

And we know that for those who love God 

all things work together for good, 

for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

In the opening verse of this post, we see that the Lord sent Elijah away to hide, yet promised to provide food and water for him.  When the rains stopped, and the predicted draught was upon him, the Lord told Elijah to go to Zaraphath and stay with a widow who would feed him...

For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, 

and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain 

upon the earth.’”  And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her 

household ate for many days.  The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

1 Kings 17:14-16

When the Lord sends us away to hide, in our own desert place, we can be assured that He will use that draught to draw us closer to Himself, grow us in new and wonderful ways, and cause a fresh bloom to blossom.

I still look at my geranium plant in wonder, seeing the bright, healthy red flowers, which still have as it's root dry, burnt looking foliage.

Let us be encouraged that even when our bodies or our emotions are wracked with affliction, the Lord is working to produce blossoms for Christ, which will bring joy to our hearts and a sweet smelling fragrance to those we encounter, testifying to the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, 

do you not perceive it? 

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:19

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If you'd like to read more spiritual reflections on gardening, you can read my post, Gardens & Groundhogs.



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