Waiting for rain

This morning it's cool and raining. That is a rare treat in the desert Southwest in June!

Last weekend, Dave and I walked the rim trail, from our house, along the edge of White Rock Canyon. (See at right, just one of the spectacular views). It had rained the week before, and there were suddenly a myriad of wildflowers springing up from the sand and rocks. It is hard to believe little seeds could lay dormant in that barren place, just waiting for a few drops of moisture to produce something of great beauty.

That is somehow a picture of the eloquent way God speaks into our lives and the world, isn't it? In barren soil, there is treasure hidden, just waiting for the rain from heaven to call it to life. In the barren soil of my heart, I wait for the rain of the Holy Spirit to produce something beautiful.

As I enter my second surgery in a month this morning, I am waiting. Waiting for that beautiful thing that the Lord is producing in me, which cannot be seen right now, but it is there. And once it is given the right moisture from heaven, suddenly we will gasp at the beauty God has hidden beneath the ugly surface. May my life be soil in the hands of the Creator, to call forth from it all that He wishes, all that is beautiful and best. In Him I determine to lay fallow and at peace until His rains come.