The Drought

Growing up in a farming family, I know that nothing is more emotionally taxing, financially burdensome, and even spiritually depressing as a drought. The long hot days stretch out into months with no relief - no cool days, no moisture, even cloud cover seems like a blessing when it indeterminately shows up. Crops show stress, our yards won’t green up, and the whole thing even begins to take a toll on our moods. On top of that, we’ve read the Old Testament. We know that many times God exercised his sovereign judgment on sinful people through drought and famine, which leaves us wondering if years like 2026 are a punishment from God. We read in Jeremiah 14:1-4: “This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: ‘Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem. The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisternsbut find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and empty, they cover their heads.’”
I cannot say whether God still judges the godless through drought, and I know that we do not strive to serve God in order for him to send us blessings such as rainfall. However, I also do think that God is sovereign over the weather and intends for us to trust him, pray, and to be grateful when he does bless us. Job teaches us so much when - after great calamity - he says, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21)
With that in mind, I also believe that we cannot fully appreciate the wonderful gifts of God without understanding them in the context of the withholding of God.
We cannot fully appreciate precipitation without going through a time of drought.
We cannot fully appreciate financial blessing without experiencing times of lack.
We cannot fully appreciate good food unless we have been hungry.
We would not know what real kindness is unless we encountered hateful people.
How do we know what generosity is unless we know someone who is greedy?
I could go on and on, but the reality is that until Christ returns to bring us into a new creation - new heavens and new earth - we will be subject to a world warped by sin and entropy. Therefore, we must allow the bad to highlight the good, and to never cease to pray that God would show mercy to us. In times of drought, may we remember that the Lord will show faithfulness to us, even as we feel that he lingers to restore us.
So, yes, please pray for rain and for God’s provision on our land. Then, may we also remember to praise him again when we are restored. When restoration did occur, the same people mentioned above, say this later in Jeremiah 31:14: “They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord—the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more.”
—Josh Light