When I think about all the rain over the past week, there is a sense of delight and gratitude that fills my heart. Although I assumed by the continuous sound of thunder and rain pelting against our bedroom windows last Saturday night that we were receiving a good dose of rain, I was quite surprised Sunday morning to see that we had four inches in the rain gauge. That’s a lot of water—21,742 gallons on my lawn alone!
Well, as I drove to Woodstock last Sunday morning to fill a Classis appointment, I saw the effects of the four inch rain. Many of the creeks quickly filled up as they collected the excess rain water. Cornstalks gathered where the culverts were too small to allow the rain to pass under the road. And what I dislike seeing the most, the excess water eroding deep gullies in the topsoil on certain hillsides.
Isn’t it true that sometimes too much of a good thing can become a bad thing. Although the main point of this article isn’t soil erosion, I would like to thank those area farmers who take careful measures to steward your topsoil well so that future generations can enjoy this great resource. However, it also breaks my heart to see so many hillsides that should either be terraced or not even be farmed. I see so many places where waterways should be wider and where filter strips should be established. I see so many fields where I would guess the landowner has no concern for future generations.
So enough about soil erosion, the question the Spirit brought to mind as I was driving; Mike are you taking intentional steps to make sure your heart is good soil and are you stewarding your life in such a way as to prevent spiritual erosion? (Have you ever noticed how good the Holy Spirit is at asking questions)?
Well, the truth is, during the past two weeks I have really enjoyed working on a couple of projects around our house. So much so that the two projects have been eroding my time spent in the Word and in prayer. As I confessed my idolatry to the Lord, the Spirit brought this scripture passage to mind, “This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. 6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land. 7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit” (Jeremiah 17:5-8).
I praise God for how he alerted me to how the good projects I was doing turned out to be eroding my relationship with Him! And how about you, are you taking intentional steps to make sure your heart is good soil and are you stewarding your life in such a way as to prevent spiritual erosion?
May you and I be like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots deep into the waters, so that we will never stop producing fruit.
Grace to you, and peace, Mike Altena
PS. I thought you might like to know that while I was writing this article, God blessed my lawn with an additional 7,609 gallons of rain. J And so based on the previous information, I will buy any school age person a cyclone from JJ’s if you can tell me how much rain was in my rain gauge.