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It seems that these days we are all on a journey. We are delving into unknown territory. The covid 19 virus has left us attempting to charter waters with which we are unfamiliar. Waters that we are unprepared to navigate. I don’t know about you but at times this pandemic has left me feeling a little “down in the dumps.” My pastor is currently preaching a sermon series called “Act Your Season.” Recently, he preached on the DRY season. I could totally relate. My first thoughts, regarding the “DRY” season, were negative I must admit. Simply by definition, how could something that is bare or lacking adornment be good? Right?
A closer look at scripture may challenge us to view the DRY season through a different lens. Being DRY is what often leads us to a place of longing for more. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42: 1) The deer would never pant if he did not at first thirst. When we think of dry and barren territory, what most frequently comes to mind is the desert. I’m sure if given the choice, not many of us would choose to reside in the desert. Why, because many of us see the desert in a negative light. We often see with eyes that cannot see clearly. But God, in his sovereignty, something beautiful in the desert.
In Exodus chapter three we see that God first spoke to Moses in the desert and again in Exodus chapters nineteen and twenty we see God giving Moses the ten commandments in the desert. If God choose to speak to Moses in this dry place could it actually be that it is in the DRY season that he desires to speak to us? Is my DRY season meant to be a place of despair, or is my DRY season meant to be a place of intimacy and connection? Is it possible that God’s voice will be the loudest in an environment that is free from all distractions and noise?
I believe that my personal DRY season has left me longing for a refreshing, longing for a drink that will satisfy and quench my thirst. Longing for a fresh drink from the well that Jesus so lovingly spoke of in John 4:14 “But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The question that then beckon’s itself is this: Am I ready to receive the fresh visitation from the Holy Spirit that I say that I desire? Am I prepared for God to speak to me in new and refreshing ways? It is one thing to have a desire and yet another to be willing to do what it takes to see your desires fulfilled. As the church prepares to celebrate the day of Pentecost what am I doing to personally prepare? To be perfectly honest, this is something that I have never really given a lot of thought. Why? Because at times I have deceived myself into believing that I fully trust God and am fully thankful for his blessings.
Pentecost defined by dictionary.com is the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciple of Jesus. While the disciples were experiencing Pentecost, the Israelites were celebrating the spring harvest festival Shavuot. There was much preparation that went into this celebration. This preparation cannot be fully understood without a brief explanation of the “counting of the omer.”
As explained by Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the omer refers to the 49-day period between the second night of Passover and the holiday of Shavuot. This periods marks the beginning of the barley harvest when, in ancient times, Jews would bring the first sheaves to the Temple as a means of thanking God for the harvest. According to Rabbi Jason Sobel, the counting of the omer daily, cultivated belief in God as the ultimate provider, gratitude for HIS abundant provisions, and was a way that one could learn to count their blessings. In other words, this was a time period when in preparation for the giving of the word of God, one could learn to trust God for their provisions and walk in a life of thankfulness for the blessings that God provided.
If trust and thankfulness were necessary components for the children of Israel could it be that they are necessary components for Pentecost in my own life? In this time of uncertainty and change, I have found myself doing way to much murmuring and complaining. Quite frankly, I am sad to say that I do way to much of this on a daily basis. I find myself challenged by what Rabbi Moses Alsich wrote: “Nothing estranges us from God more than the abundance of nature’s bounty. It leads man to believe that he is independent, has created his own wealth, and leads to ingratitude vis-a vis the Creator, whose generosity has made nature’s bounty possible…Just as a father wants to impress upon his child that he must not take everything he receives for granted, so God impresses upon us that before we enjoy the bounty of nature, we must bring a symbolic offering to show God that we are aware of the source of wealth and well-being. It is not our fathers who gave us this land, not merely our own toil that created the harvest, but God is behind it all.”
In more ways than one I believe that I have become indifferent to the abundance of “natures bounty,” in some ways estranged from God having cultivated patterns of distrust and unthankfulness in my life. If nothing else positive comes from the “shelter in place orders” one thing is for certain. It has caused many to realize just how much we take for granted. It is one thing to pay lip service where thanks is concerned and yet another to walk in an attitude of it. Thank you God for the reminder that if I am to receive a fresh anointing, a fresh fire from your Holy Spirit, that I, too, must walk daily with a renewed sense of trust and thankfulness. Forgive me for where I have failed in these areas and continue to remind me when I fall short. I desire to live a life that displays a trust in YOU as my ultimate provider. I desire to have a heart that reaches a new level of thanks for the blessings that you bestow upon me daily.
As the church prepares for the celebration of Pentecost, I, too, will prepare. But this year will look a little different for me. This year, with God’s help, I will examine my thoughts and actions and challenge myself to prepare my heart daily to trust and be thankful. On our journey for PPE, may our new sense of awareness to put our trust in God our creator prepare our hearts to receive all that he desires to bestow upon us! I am eagerly awaiting my Personal Pentecost Experience!
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