"Bring on the Rain" (Part 2)

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. (Psalm 63:1-4 NIV).

Yesterday I ended with the hope that you would be transformed with the knowledge of your security in God. There is no storm that might come into your life that cannot be withstood as you rest in Him. Today our reading gives us the “how” in very simple language. David says, O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you.

David had learned the secret of being thirsty for God. Many years ago, when we lived in Weatherford, Texas, we decided to build a Wiffleball size baseball field in our backyard. You remember those plastic balls with the slots cut into them so they would fly as far as a regular baseball. Kyle and I took on the project so that it could be complete for a youth party at the house. And, of course, with my philosophy being “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right,” I couldn’t just throw down some bases and call it a field. We built a backstop, laid the bases, dieseled and chalked the lines, and set the foul poles and home run lines in a position that was reachable, but challenging. About the only thing we didn’t build were the bleachers. I just ran out of time! I still remember the day we dug the holes for the posts of the backstop and the foul poles. Of course, it was in the dead of summer when the ground was hard baked. I used a sharpshooter shovel, grubbing hole, and posthole diggers! Those are really not much more than torture devices for the common man! As I was digging, Kyle was responsible for the water run. As we took breaks from the chore he’d bring out tall ice-filled glasses of water. I remember it being so hot and sweating so much that the sweat literally dripped from the brim of my cap! That’s hot; and, I was VERY thirsty!

Are you getting the picture? Many of us want the power and purpose of God, but few of us are REALLY thirsty for Him. Be careful. It’s at this point that we are tempted to talk about how often we go to church, or how much we give to the church. We may cite the many times we have volunteered at the church or in the community. However, none of those may be rooted in a real thirst for the Lord’s presence. I’ve found that when you are thirsty for God, you are desperate for Him. It’s the same kind of desperation that we feel when we have been separated from our loved ones. We’ll do anything to see them. We’ll go to any lengths to be with them. Is that how it is with you and the Lord? It all starts there. That’s how you will be able to sing Bring on the Rain! Get thirsty for Him!