Have you ever struggled with life or certain areas of your life? I imagine the honest answer is yes. Most of us have at one time or another. It doesn't take much living to consequently realize that these struggles are not a one time deal but, very often recurring themes or seasons of spiritual drought that we must pass through. Sometimes it seems that God's blessed rain will never come to replenish us. To replenish our spirit, our health, our finances, our relationships, our careers, our purpose, our dreams, our very souls. There are indeed places or areas of our lives that seem to stretch out before us like a barren desert land.

Can I share something with you today? The Lord God never intended for us to stay there. To pitch our tents in these cracked, parched wastelands and call them our home. Resigning our spirits to defeat with dehydrated desperate attitudes is NOT Christ's will. Yes, I know. You may be thinking...You don't know me. You don't know anything about me or my life or what I've been through or what I'm dealing with now. You're right. I don't know any of that but, God does. There is power in His name, in Jesus saving blood that was shed for you and for me. He cares about every facet of our lives.

God wants to send us His blessing showers. He yearns to saturate our spirits and wash away our despair. I am well aware that we all have dry spells. Sometimes they seem to stretch on for miles, for years. We feel them bearing down relentlessly. During these times, our mouths speak God's word yet, sometimes our hearts wander like nomads through the Sahara. Often we trap ourselves in the desert lands of life. Perhaps, upon our insistence the Lord allowed our caravan a detour that was not in His original plans. Maybe He even navigated it Himself for reasons we can not yet see.  But, whatever the circumctance He always carries the compass. Well, if God is so great with directions then WHY am I wandering around out here in the sand and scorching sun? My throat scratched. My eyes seared. My skin burned. I hear ya but, guess what? Jesus always requires our faith, our belief, our heart's song. We have a high call. Even when we don't see a cloud in the sky. Feel no breeze on our skin, hear no distant rumbling. We must believe and claim that His rains of blessing are coming. In the old testament, the prophet Elijah begins to proclaim  the coming of an abundance of rain. Elijah notifies the people. Then, Elijah even notifies the king. The thing is they were in a drought and there were no signs whatsoever that any rain was on the way. People are lookin' at the sky. It's not overcast, no lightning, nothing. The air smells the same, the temperatures steady. Not a drop. Now notice that the bible doesn't just say Elijah prayed for God's rain. It doesn't even say he believed God would send rain. It tells us Elijah proclaimed the coming of God's abundant rain. Proclaimed the coming encapsulates praying, believing, and sharing. Stepping out in faith and telling others about it.  When nobody could see the blessed rain and all natural signs pointed elsewhere Elijah knew he wasn't just dealing with the natural but, the supernatural. He proclaimed it in Jesus name. Then, in the hour God appointed............... it rained!

We don't have to be prophets to proclaim the coming of God's abundant blessing in our lives. In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says, "...I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Have you ever seen a mustard seed? We're talking tiny. Listen brothers and sisters, we are not just natural people with wordly problems. We have the supernatural power of Jesus in our grasp. Jesus loves raining down supernatural blessings into this natural world. And He loves even more when we share about it with others.  Let's grab our mustard seed of faith, pack up our tent, and move out of the desert.  All the while proclaiming the coming of God's abundant blessed rain. What does your spirit thirst for from the Lord? How does He want you to drink Him in?

Romans 8:28  In Christ's great love - Melody Kathlene Milbrandt