Cheryl Dale – Climbing Out of the Valley

We aren’t used to rain around here, at least not this much rain. And, it being almost June in what many call the “Palm Springs of Washington”, we aren’t used to seeing the hills covered with snow again. We thought we put winter to bed. We relished a spring with several days of eighty degree weather and now we are on the cusp of summer even though it doesn’t seem like it.

The news this morning chronicled the work on flooded streets yesterday. A worker stated that our “8” and 10” drainage pipes just can’t handle this much water all at once.”

I can’t help but apply that description to my seeking heart.  I want so much of God but I’m afraid at times my pipes are too narrow to truly let Him in. Too many other things are running through those pipes and they inhibit the free flow of all God has for me.

In the book of Hosea we are told that we shouldn’t be surprised when the Lord comes to us.  Chapter 6 Verse 3 says “Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth”

The Message Bible puts it this way:  We’re ready to study God, eager for God-knowledge.  As sure as dawn breaks, so sure is his daily arrival.  He comes as rain comes, as spring rain refreshing the ground.”

In Yakima, it’s not the first time we’ve had heavy rain and the pipes weren’t prepared to handle it. But when it does come, we see the same result – flooding around our feet. 

We are basically a desert climate and there are times when we crave rain to heal the parched ground. It doesn’t always come when we need it.

Not so with a parched heart that cries out to God. He always comes and He always comes in abundance. It’s just that we aren’t always ready.

We pray for a miracle, get it and then doubt whether it was really a miracle. We pray for an answer to our problem, get it and then decide it’s not the one we want. We seek direction and when it doesn’t coincide with the way we really want to go, we discard it.

Living Water pools at our feet because we have narrowed the channel into our heart and soul.

When we are thirsty an overflowing glass of water won’t help if we don’t drink it.

When we’re dry, all the moisture in the world won’t refresh us if we refuse to absorb it.

As surely as the sun rises, He will appear. Let’s open our eyes to see Him, open our ears to hear Him and open our hearts to receive Him.

Don’t be like the drain pipe that can’t handle an abundance of water. Instead, be prepared for the spring rain.

Job 37:6
He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’

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