Everyone Needs A Good Soaker Now And Then

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to go out for a short mountain bike ride early in the morning before work. It had been a week or two since I had gotten out on our local trail system at Hartman Rocks. The last time I was out, the weather had been hot and dry for some time and the trails showed it.

With our rocky, sandy, soil, it doesn’t take very many days of hot dry weather to cause the trails to get very loose and dusty. Loose soil makes for poor traction. Each little steep uphill section becomes a challenge to ascend without your rear wheel spinning out. And, the downhills become a slalom ride that feels at times like you are riding on marbles.

On this particular morning however, we had just enjoyed about three days of monsoon moisture. The summer monsoons bring thunderstorms to our mountains in the afternoon, and often just a nice steady rain through the evenings and into the night. That morning the valley and the surrounding peaks were draped in fog and low clouds. It was cool, damp, and green, and the air was filled with the smell of wet sage. I noticed immediately that the trails had tightened up. All it takes is a little soaking to consolidate the surface of the trail, and restore traction. Damp trails become tacky, making climbing and descending a joy. The more important benefit is that the land gets a drink, everything is rejuvenated, and the danger of wildfire is eliminated.

I couldn’t help but think that we too need that kind of drenching in God’s Word and Spirit on a regular basis. The Scripture says, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10, 11 NIV).

Life itself tends to dry us out, and we can become scattered and scratchy. We can easily lose direction and focus when we just do the daily grind day after day. We need to develop the simple habit of spending a little time with God and His Word every day. It doesn’t have to be a huge deal, but we do need to make a connection with His Spirit around His Word. But then, once in a while, we need a good soaking. We need some extended time to allow the Lord to really penetrate our dry spots and heal us up. We try to have that kind of time during worship every week here at RMCM. But I think we, as individuals need to build in special extended times of worship, prayer, and soaking in the Word.

The good news is that it’s so easy to do these days. The hardest part is setting aside the time and actually getting off by yourself or with your family for a time with God. Like anything else in your life, if you don’t schedule it, it won’t happen. But, we have wonderful, anointed worship music in multiple forms to help us worship. We have the bible on paper, on CD, on MP3, and streaming from the internet to help us soak in the Word.

So I say, plan some time to soak in God. Take a long drive to a favorite secluded spot. Spend both the drive time and the afternoon just soaking in His presence. Or, next time there is an evening thunderstorm, turn off the TV, the computer, and the phone, gather the family up and take some time to worship the Lord and read His Word together. Read the Old Testament stories while the lightning flashes, and talk about the greatness of our God. Or, take the kids on a Saturday afternoon, go somewhere that you can look out at creation, and spend an hour or two thanking God for your blessings, and talking to the kids about real life examples of His faithfulness. Then have s’mores or stop for ice cream - your kids will never forget it.

The main thing is that you will come out of these times refreshed. Those loose, dry areas will be restored. New life will begin to spring up, and the danger of wildfires of the heart will be quenched. You will come out green and healthy, and at peace again. You will gain traction that will propel you into breakthrough. We can’t wait for these times of refreshing to present themselves, or always expect the church to create them for us, we have to schedule them, and make them happen.