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A GREEN LEAF IN DROUGHT TIME – That seems to be an oxymoron, right? Like… jumbo shrimp, act naturally, rap music, passive aggression, same difference, Microsoft Works, or living dead.

I’ve felt like the oxy-Moron. Divorced Youth Pastor!?! Yeah, I remember that drought like it was yesterday.

And in drought times anything green is hoped for, rarely seen.  But is it possible that what you can’t see is your greatest blessing? It doesn’t mean it’s not there, just that we can’t see it.

Hindsight is always better right?  We’ve all been there.  During the drought all we can see is dryness, the lack of good, because we’re lacking basic needs. But isn’t it amazing that after the drought we can look back and see all the blessing?  Where were they in the middle of my hardship? I assure you, they were there, we just get so distracted we miss them.

We have two options in hard times: live distracted or  live by faith  

Faith is living in hindsight mode ahead of time. I believe God will get me through because He’s never failed me.  It’s either that or I can whine and complain, cry and shut down… and be distracted from the work of God in my life through the drought.

Andrew Murray in the book, A Green Leaf in Drought Time gives four points of counsel to those in the drought:

1. “You are in this straight place by Divine appointment.”
2. “You are here in His keeping. He will keep you by His grace and love in this situation.”
3. “You are here for His training and discipline. God wants to stretch you, to build you up, and He has brought you to this trial to test you by fire.”
4. “You are here in His time. You don’t know how long you’ll be here, or what your future will hold, but this is where God wants you now.”

Dr. Ed Young says, “trials are our ticket out of complacency and mediocrity. When we struggle, we grow.” 

Although green is not the color you think of when you hear the word drought, everything about you has ‘GONE GREEN.’ That is to say, God has prospered you even in the drought times.

Psalm 37:25 …I have never seen the righteous forsaken or the seed of the Lord begging bread.

The Israelites are a great example of this… here they are in drought:

Jeremiah 50:17 Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:51 We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the Lord’s house.

But here is God’s plan fulfilled:

 Jeremiah 51:52-53 But days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan. Even if Babylon reaches the sky and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her, declares the Lord.

And the Israelites prosper. God just needed to knock something out of them. He does that through trials.  He did it over and again with the Israelites and with me, He most likely will with you too.

So, if you ever feel like the oxy-Moron – remember God has placed you there to get the Moron out of you.

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