According to the weatherman, we’re still in a drought. It surprised me a little to hear that, since there’s either snow on the ground or melted runoff gathering in puddles. There’s plenty of water in either frozen or liquid form all over the place right now. And yet - according to the weatherman - we’re still in a drought.

This drought actually stretches back to last year. Last summer and fall we didn’t get as much rain as we normally do - but to be fair it was obvious then. I remember walking through the woods all last year (hunting for mushrooms) and leaves that were supposed to be green and vibrant were instead wilty and drooping. The evidence of the drought was obvious then, I could see it all over nature. But it’s not so obvious right now - what with the snow piles, ice patches and freezing rain. 

We are, apparently, still in a drought. We don’t have the snow accumulations we normally have by this time. That means less melted water for the spring, which in turn means less groundwater for the plants to start blooming. That lack of water can turn into a famine.

A drought or a famine can be unpleasant - in fact, it can be downright dangerous. 

But a lack of water is nothing compared to a different kind of drought. This kind of famine is the absolute worst - it’s a drought of God’s Word. God threatened this kind of drought to Israel in Amos 8:11-12. 

“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

    “when I will send a famine through the land—

not a famine of food or a thirst for water,

    but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

People will stagger from sea to sea

    and wander from north to east,

searching for the word of the Lord,

    but they will not find it. (NIV)

The worst kind of drought possible -  a famine of God’s Word! To be cut off from the life giving Word of the Lord. No one - and I mean NO ONE can survive that. 

And yet dear friends, we are able to rejoice because that’s not happening to us. We aren’t experiencing that horrible kind of drought. In fact, as we begin the season of Lent we realize that we don’t have a famine of God’s Word - we have an abundance! In his grace God has lavished us with His Word. During this Lenten season, rejoice in the truth that every time you go to Church, every time you have devotions with your family, everytime you look over and reach your Bible sitting on the nightstand - God is giving you his precious Word. He’s reminding you of his eternal love. During this Lenten season we are being lavished in riches - we are enjoying the abundance of God’s precious Word. 

We may still be in a drought of water, but we are not in a drought of God’s Word.

Pastor Joshua Zarling