“I have never seen this before,” my seventy-one-year-old dad, born and raised in California, said yesterday as we stood in the field with snow geese migrating overhead. “It’s January and they’re already headed back to Alaska.”
In my planter, a daffodil unfurls. All my bulbs are sprouting in this springlike weather. I’m watering our lawn to keep it alive, but not as much as I’d like to since California is already in conservation mode with this drought turning ugly.
California farmers are worried. Really worried. Cattlemen are running out of feed. Walnut farmers are irrigating their trees. We can’t spray our peach orchard for curly leaf because the ground is too dry. Today I drove down our driveway and dust unfurled all around me. Smoke hung in the air with several fires in the distance. The atmosphere reminded me of late August: dry, dirty, and thirsty for rain. And this is January.
Where is the rain?
According to experts, a high-pressure ridge four miles high and 2000 miles long is parked over the Pacific Ocean sending all our West Coast moisture to Alaska and Canada. Not since the 1970’s, the decade of Roe v Wade, has California suffered such a drought, and this one is breaking all records.
Lake Oroville is the second largest state reservoir in northern California. Oroville Dam is the tallest dam in the United States. As you can see, it’s looking pretty bleak, along with California’s other life-giving lakes and rivers. The Sierra Nevada snow pack California relies on for summer water is hardly there this year.
On facebook, I’m seeing posts from farming associations and other folks saying, “Pray for rain!” A lot of these people praying for rain probably don’t go to church, but they know God is able. I’m also hearing plenty of talk about doing a rain dance. Why is it we humans inherently know we need to worship a higher power to unleash the rain?
A few days ago, I did a Bible search regarding rain ~specifically lack of rain~ and found drought is always associated with idols in the land and a blatant disregard for God’s commands. I could point a finger at the state of California, and tell you while other states are pushing to cut back on abortions, California is “very proud” to expand abortion according to the California assemblywoman who wrote the bill passed a few months ago that allows a range of healthcare workers besides doctors to abort babies, but I’d rather focus on our Christian idols here.
Martin Luther King Jr once said, “The Negro cannot win as long as he is willing to sacrifice the future of his children for immediate personal comfort and safety.” This quote hit me hard this week. I think as believers we can also say, ‘the Christian cannot win as long as he is willing to sacrifice his faith for immediate personal comfort and safety.’
I confess these are probably my biggest idols: comfort and safety. The extent of their grip on my life was made very clear to me in 2013 during sickness and hardship, along with writing a novel that left me emotionally and spiritually spent. I don’t know if this novel will ever see the light of day, but excavating one’s heart isn’t for the faint of heart.
Sadly, many believers harbor idols. If you want to find the idols in your life, sometimes you don’t have to look much farther than your wallet. If you take a good hard look at your spending, you’re likely to meet the love of your life there.
Do you spend all your money on your kids? If they’re living and breathing sports and the wheels on your SUV never stop rolling to their activities, there probably isn’t much time for you to breathe in God. Your children won’t have time for Jesus, either, if you’re constantly running them to practices and games and all sorts of entertainment. It’s so easy to get caught in this trap. Busyness is a modern day plague for today’s families. Making time for loving God takes real effort.
Are you spending all your cash on a hobby? On yourself? On an addiction? I’m not really talking about finances here. I’m talking about what pumps our hearts. The thing about America is this: we can measure our passions in dollars. If this drought worsens, water will also be measured in dollars.
Our family farms walnuts and fruit trees. We are irrigating this winter. Running the pumps to access ground water costs money. When something grips our hearts, it usually affects our spending habits, and also our time and attention. When we love something, we spend on it. Jesus said, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” Matthew 22:37.
When we fall in love with earthly things our love for God ebbs away.
God uses all kinds of things to point out his will for our lives. Lack of rain in the Bible was always a wake-up call for God’s people to humble themselves, and call upon his name, and rid themselves of idols. The best way to get rid of an idol is to seek God’s assistance. Ask Jesus to free you from whatever is ruling your life outside of Him. Run to the Maker of heaven and earth, and while you are there, please ask God for rain for California.
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