WATER FOR THE THIRSTY
Is. 44:3 ‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land
And streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring
And My blessing on your descendants;
Have you ever been really thirsty? Obviously, there are different degrees of being thirsty, but when you get to a certain point your body will actually shut down. You cannot function without water. Actually, all life in our world is dependent on water. When a region begins to experience drought, it becomes a hardship on everything. The plants whither up and die, there is no fruit on the trees, and ultimately famine sets in. We cannot get by for long without the rain from heaven. Of course, this a spiritual picture of our need for the water of the Spirit. There is nothing worse than a dry, dusty Christian. These dusty Christians may have the outward appearance of spirituality, but inside, they have become dehydrated, desperately in need of the rain of the Spirit of God. Charles Spurgeon points out our need for the refreshing water from heaven, check out his words on this spiritual reality.
“I will pour water upon him that is thirsty. You shall receive the grace you so much require, and you shall have it to the utmost reach of your needs. Water refreshes the thirsty: you shall be refreshed; your desires shall be gratified. Water quickens sleeping vegetable life: your life shall be quickened by fresh grace. Water swells the buds and makes the fruits ripen; you shall have fructifying grace: you shall be made fruitful in the ways of God. Whatever good quality there is in divine grace, you shall enjoy it to the full. All the riches of divine grace you shall receive in plenty; you shall be as it were drenched with it: and as sometimes the meadows become flooded by the bursting rivers, and the fields are turned into pools, so shall you be-the thirsty land shall be springs of water”
When there is no spiritual rain, there is no fruit. It is amazing how quickly everything changes and actually comes alive when it begins to rain. I will never forget the revival meetings we conducted in Manila Philippines in 1995. That nation was struggling in the midst of a drought and was being severely hurt from the lack of water. During that week of meetings, the Lord began to pour out His renewing Spirit on that church in a powerful way. God’s Glory came down, people’s lives were being changed. In the midst of one of those meetings it actually began to rain outside. We could hear the pounding on the roof above our heads. I will never forget the joy I saw on the pastor’s face that day, he was lifting his hands in praise saying “It’s raining, it’s raining!” There were two kinds of rain falling that day in Manila. Both are essential. Maybe you are going through a dry spell, don’t be discouraged. Listen, I think it is beginning to rain.