If there’s any way to describe summer so far it’s HOT and DRY. That’s not too far out of the ordinary for where we live, but the problem is, if there was any way to describe the previous spring and winter it was also, HOT and DRY. One article I read noted that this past year has been the driest on record since 1874! If that’s true, than our current landscape is more dry than it was during the Dustbowl!

That’s frightening. I can remember my grandma showing me pictures of the dreaded Kansas event. She talked about how they had to put washcloths over their faces and under the doors to try and trap dust. She talked about zero visibility and how many people just up and moved. In fact, I was a history major in college, and I can remember reading about people getting dust-born pneumonia from the cataclysmic weather. That would cause me to move too!

Now. I’m no soil scientist—what’s that called? a geologist? doesn’t matter—I don’t study dirt, so I’m not sure why, if this is the driest we’ve been in over a hundred years, that we haven’t seen more dirt flying around, but I can tell you this: dry is never a word that should describe your relationship with God.

I mean, we can’t control the rain, but we can control our relationship.

How so? Because we’re in control of when we connect. God told us multiple places that he would never leave us; Genesis 28:15, Deuteronomy 31:8, Joshua 1:5, and 1 Chronicles 28:20 just to name a few. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 28:20. I love Psalm 94:14 which reads, For the Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage.

I find it compelling that God calls us His “heritage”. Like, we’re His legacy. We’re His ancestry. We’ve inherited His most prized possessions. In other words, if we’re feeling alone in the house, it’s not because God has left us. 

Maybe this will help you: if your relationship is arid, than you’ve misunderstood your heritage. I’m thinking you’ve misunderstood the house rules. The good news is, God’s house rules are not hard to figure out. Anyone who reads the bible or asks someone who knows it to help them out will have no trouble figuring out what the basic standards are (see also Matthew 22:36-40). 

That doesn’t mean we’ll always agree with the rules. No different from when you grew up in your physical parents’ house. Sometimes you’ll question God’s wisdom, like you questioned your own dad’s. We’ll think His rules are arbitrary, restrictive, or out of touch. But no matter how much we struggle with any given rule, which will probably vary over the course of your life, we all know what the rules are.

And the one rule I want to bring to your attention is found in John chapter 7 where Jesus says He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’

Now who wouldn’t want that? If you’re like my backyard right now, cracked, brittle, baked, and barren, you don’t have to stay that way. God will meet you exactly where you’re at. You can see it all starts with belief.

You can’t control the rain, but you can control your walk.