Water Over Thirsty Lands

Praise God! Sara, I really appreciated that children’s story. We have “buggers” at our house too.
We know what you’re going through. We’re praying for your family very much so.
How is everybody doing? We’re good? Couple weeks ago, I preached about drought resistant
Christians and it started to rain, after that. My kids were impressed with that! Anyway as we
continue on this drought will end, we hope.

Anyway we are talking about being a drought resistant Christian. You know we are in the worst
drought in California history and I was talking to Rick today and he was talking about El
Salvador and how it’s all drying up there. Animals are dying and so on. It’s a bit scary and you
hear of other places where it’s raining like crazy. But it makes us think there’s something going
on that’s different. We have to think about our lives. We have to think about the way we use our
water. We water our lawns differently. The grass is not as green. Things are different while
we’re in this drought. The Bible talks about drought many times but we also can be in spiritual
drought as well.

Before we continue let us pray. Father Lord, thank you so much for today, this Sabbath day.
Thank you that I get to be with my brothers and sisters here and worshipping here, Lord. Help
us father as we reflect on your word. Teach us what we need to learn today. Help us to see our
own state, our own spiritual state and how much we need you in our lives continuously, Father.
There are some of us that feel we may be dried up, maybe in a spiritual drought. Help us see
today how we can replenish our spiritual lives. May water pour down on our souls so we can be
truly revived in you, Lord. Thank you, Father. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.

Do you ever feel like you are in a spiritual drought? Ever in your time, your life, you don’t feel
like everything is clicking in your walk with God? There is a bit of a distance in your
relationship with him? I assume that all of us have more times than not had those moments
where we just feel a bit disconnected. We are in some spiritual drought. That is what we are
here to talk about. In the Bible there are many different stories of drought. Drought is a
common theme, especially in the Old Testament, especially in the early part of the Old
Testament. Abraham went through a drought. Isaac went through a drought. Joseph went
through droughts. The judges went through droughts. David went through a drought. Elijah,
which we’ll talk about a little bit later, went through a drought. Elisha, Hagaai, Nehemiah all of
these people in the Bible had gone through droughts. There was a solution to overcome these
droughts, that was turning back to the Lord.

So when we’re talking about a spiritual drought we are talking about ourselves we have to reflect
on what the Bible says on how to return, to form to be spiritually dried up. In Jeremiah 17: 5, it
says - This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from
mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.” One of the things is we have to
recognize where does this drought come from. Whenever we’re feeling dried-up, where does it
come from? It came from somewhere something manufactured in your life that allowed this to
happen according to what I’m reading here is says - This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the
one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the
Lord.” So you know that could be subtle. How do we turn to man? We have problems in our
lives and a lot of times we look for solutions in many different ways. You know you’re all
stressed out. I remember when I was growing up- “Calgon take me away.” All you need is a
good bubble bath then all your problems are over! Right?

There are so many addictions out there. You could be addicted to just needing a drink to solve
my problems or to hide my problems. Or we may just need food that could be an addiction.
There’re so many things we trust as our way out, as our solution to our lives. But when we put
our trust in man’s ways we will eventually disconnect with our God. I know this very sometimes
I think is all I need is to watch a good movie or something like that. You put that in and you
don’t feel any better afterward. Right? Or like Disney land, the happiest place on earth. That
will solve all my problems. I go there and I’m happy with those mouse ears on my head and I
walk out and I’m tired and exhausted. I can’t truly feel fulfilled. I mean there is a time or place
for things but the reality is we look for solutions in what man has to offer when only God can
truly help us. It says here when we do this - “That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in
a salt land where no one lives.” So when they trust in man what does it describe them as? They
will be in a desert parched in a wasteland. They certainly aren’t drought resistant Christians, are
they?

Certainly make us think about this. One of the classic examples of how man becomes the
solution in the Bible is in 1 Kings 18. It is that Elijah was mourning Abraham. You can look
through it in your Bible. I’m not going to really read the verses but I’m going to tell the story.
You know the story! Ahab was a wicked king, a bad king. He was the king of Israel. He was
the king of Israel. He was the king of God’s chosen people but for some reason through time and
whatever reason he thought the solution of his problems was to worship Baal. Baal was a man-
made god. He thought the solution; man’s solution would be to solve this problem with Baal.
For some reason worshiping Yahweh, God was not good enough had something more. Baal had
something more to offer him for some reason. He could have power without humility, without
responsibility. He could feel like he could worship this Baal and it would give him things that
would fulfill his passion, his lust, make him wealthy and make him a great king in the world
sense. That was his goal. Elijah told him because of this God is not happy. So I’m going to put
drought on your lands and you will be at fault.

First there is a part where Elijah runs into Ahab and Ahab says you are causing this drought.
This famine and people are dying because of you. No, he said it’s because of you. You turned
your back on God and decided to worship Baal. You put your trust in man. We all can identify
with this in some ways. We think our solution is to go to the world and make that the solution to
your problems. We turn our backs on God. What does this cause? It caused Ahab a drought.
What did we read in Jeremiah? Because of our trust in man we become dried up. We become
like deserts, parched, needing to drink, needing to fulfill our thirst. We know the story where
Elijah calls the people up to Mount Carmel. Asks them to gather God’s people and also all the
prophets of Baal. And they do a test on which god will bring fire upon this alter. At first it was
Baal’s prophets. They built their altar. They pray and they tear themselves up.

It’s crazy what we do. God has his solutions. It is really easy. “Come to me. That’s what he
asks us to do. Come to me. But for us to do it our own way or to follow man’s way we create
all kinds of self destructive behaviors to follow them. The Baal prophets are all ripping
themselves up and tearing their clothes. At the same time Elijah is just mocking them. We know
the story. Why do we do that when it is so hard to follow man? They take so much out of us.
We still choose to follow man. We believe this drug will help me or this thing will fix my
problems or this habit will make me feel good or whatever it is that goes on in our lives.
But then in the end Elijah puts God to the test. Elijah prays and asks them to pour water over it,
drenching the offerings and the wood and the altar and even built a ditch and poured water in to
it. So God prevails. Lightening and fire come and proves God is truly the solution. And shortly
after that rain just falls and no longer are they in a drought.

We are in a drought here in California. But in our own spiritual lives the solution is truly to
come to God. Think of this in your own sense. In what ways do you put your own trust in man?
Ask that question to yourself. Is it Calgon? Is Calgon your solution? Think of it in your own
journey and your own life. What do you use? What ways do you put your trust in man? We all
have our habits and our things that we use. You know I got into a habit. I like to play Sudoku
You know what that game is? You put all these numbers together. I like playing the game and I
justify it because it is going to keep me from having Alzheimer’s. It is one of those memory
games. So I am playing it and I am pretty good at this. I am going to have a good memory
through life. But then it is fun and it is alright but after a while I am like I can only do this so
much. It can only fulfill you so much. That’s what this is about - trusting in man. Maybe it’s a
relationship with someone that you have or whatever is going on in our lives that we think we
need or have to have. A big screen TV! Yeah! Awesome! These things are nice. God wants us to
experience blessings but when we think this is what makes us ok. It fulfills our needs. We are
going to be left sadly mistaken and dried up in a spiritual drought.

Then he says this. This is the same Jeremiah following after we’ve read where it says the person
will be in a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. Then his
response is - “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” His
confidence is in him. I try to think when you walk away from this is what are you going to truly
get out of this. The first part of truly being a drought resistant Christian is to have faith in the
Lord, not faith in the man. Man can’t do anything for you. But have faith in the Lord. Faith of a
mustard seed can move a mountain. You can do all kinds of things.

I was thinking –“What is the definition of faith?” I looked it up and it says according to a
dictionary – Faith is the unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence. Often
times we think of faith in God. As Christians we’re talking about the existence of God. Let’s
have faith in the existence of God. That is what most people think faith is but it is more than
that. It is faith in the power of God. We are all Christians here and are here in church for a
reason. We believe that God exists. But a lot of times by our actions we show that we do not
have faith in the full power of God. We don’t put our faith in Him to handle our problems or
take care of all things. We put our faith in man. Man will take care if certain situations come up.
What do we do? Like if someone is going to show power over you. You put your faith in man’s
ways by putting power over them. If someone is arguing over you, you put your faith in man’s
way and you fight back. Right? It’s just what happens. So really faith is what helps us to be a
drought resistant Christian. Whenever there’s trouble that goes on, we believe in the power of
God. He is going to help us.

The opposite of faith is what? It’s worry. Right? Do you worry? We worry a lot. People worry
a lot. It was understood that when 9/11 came the whole country was in a post traumatic
syndrome. The whole country had PTSD. It means we were in constant anxiety. The solution is
faith. How do you recognize that you don’t have faith is because we live in worry. That’s clear
enough, right? Sometimes you wonder if you have faith. Are you worrying then you don’t have
faith. We worry. I worry about my kids and how they are going to grow up, when they cross the
street. We worry about rather we’re going to pay our bills, survive. We worry about lots of
things. But that’s the opposite of faith. Worrying accomplishes really nothing. You gain
absolutely nothing when you worry. It is also not very good for you.

Stress! Besides food, stress. Those are the two things that are the number one killers out there.
ISIS they kill people and they kill lots of people. We need to worry about…no… we don’t need
to worry. We need to put it in the Lord’s hands. The thing that the government is doing, what is
happening around the world, the earthquakes or whatever situations that are going on in life.
Those things… we… think about but what is truly killing us is food and stress. Stress! What
causes stress? Worrying! Worrying is the opposite of trusting God. It is the opposite of faith. So
instead of worrying you know what we could do? We can change it up. We can spend your time
worrying and having this anxiety and wondering if things are going alright. You can spend your
energy doing that or you can close your hands and you could pray. Let’s not be worrying people.
Let’s be praying people. Then slowly, you know I’m shaking, and then slowly your hands will
become still and you will be trusting in God. Your faith is in God that he will take care of your
solutions. And also worrying puts us totally focused in the wrong direction.

Perception is everything. We live our lives and we can perceive whatever we want. You see
somebody coming down the street and you might automatically think this person is going to mug
you. Or maybe he just wanted to hug you. Maybe we should start looking at the world God has
provided for you as a place where someone wants to hug you. It’s a safe place because you’re
with God. Even if bad things happen, even if someone comes and takes your life you have the
blessed assurance that when we give our life to Jesus we have eternal life. So therefore we have
nothing to truly worry about. We put too much pressure and emphasis on the things that don’t
really matter and maybe we should put more emphasis on things that are eternal.

Let me go back - “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”
Jeremiah 17:7. That is what I said. “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out
its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no
worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”  The person who trusts in the Lord,
guess what, water comes right to its roots. They are drought resistant Christians. Amen! So we
may be in this great drought, the worst drought in the history of California. But we don’t have to
be in spiritual droughts. The solution is to have faith. Isn’t that nice! You would think that the
solution is that you need to go and do these crazy obstacle courses. God could say you need to do
this, you need to do this, you need to give up this and you need to do that. First start is just have
faith in God. It’s simple.
What happens when you put your trust in God? Think about that in your own life. What
happens when you put your trust in man? Do you have evidence? Do you have time where you
have put your trust in God? Has he disappointed you? No. Maybe things don’t work out exactly
like you wanted but he will give you what you need. You have to trust that too. Maybe you think
you need the Ferrari. I used to say that a lot earlier. You don’t need that Ferrari. He gave you
Nissan Ultima. That’s all you need. Right? And feel blessed that you have that Nissan Ultima. I
hear they are very nice cars.

Praise God. Drought resistant Christians start by having faith in him. The other verse here is in
2 Chronicles 7:13. “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to
devour the land or send a plague among my people,...”  “...if my people, who are called by my
name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then
I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
I don’t know. You know Bill asked to pray for rain. God listens to our prayers so I believe that.
But I don’t know if we do everything right, it will all start to rain, physically. I do know
spiritually when we give our lives to God when we turn back from our wicked ways and we
come to him, he will heal our lands. I don’t necessarily mean that in a physical way. I mean
shalom. I mean that he will give us a complete sense of peace in every way. And all of a sudden
we are coming back to God, guess what else is being healed? Your relationships with people,
your circumstances will become better and your lands will be better. We put ourselves in the
worst situations because we are following man.

All God wants us to do it to turn back to him. It was pretty amazing, since I caused that great
rain a couple of weeks ago, the grass in my yard immediately turned incredibly green. It was
dead. I was about ready to just rip it all out because it was so brittle. You could touch it and it
seemed like 1980’s hairdo. Billy Idol here. It just immediately revived the grass. It’s amazing
what a little rain can do. What you need in your drought resistant state is a little rain in your
walk with God. It will restore your life very quickly. Maybe not every situation is resolved but
you yourself will be in a better place when you give your life to God. A Drought Resistant
Christian is someone who can rely on the Lord during the driest times of their lives.

What happens when bad things happen to you? You want to retreat, don’t you? You hide or
whatever. But it’s time to just let God pour his blessings upon us. We are keeping ourselves
from experiencing that. God will do it anytime, all the time if we allow him to. But we keep
fighting. We keep wanting to do it our own way and keep wanting to follow man. Let us be
people of faith. Not just the faith that God exists but faith that God can do all things. He can do
all things in our lives which means all we need to do is humble ourselves. Sometimes the
problem is that we think God can do all things and we treat him like our genie. He can do all
things that I want him to do. He can do all things if we allow him but we have to want what he
wants for us. This is the start of truly being a drought resistant Christian.

Let us pray. Father Lord, thank you so much for the blessings you give us. Father, we live in the
world. We watch the news. We see all the things that are going on and it seems devastating at
times and frightful. But you desire us to not focus on that and be people of faith, to be people
that believe in you, people who know the power that you have for our lives. And that we don’t
live defeated. We live claiming your victories. May your water- your spirit- just pour into our
lives. Thank you, Father. We pray these things in the precious name of Jesus. Amen