Pastor's wife: Just like mums, people's spiritual lives can become dry if neglected

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My mums didn’t make it. 

 They were glorious a month ago.  I even took a picture of them there on the porch for Instagram.  Because I love mums, my beloved is faithful to get me assorted colors every fall.

 But … I neglected them this year.  Once vibrant blooms are now crispy buds.  Previously healthy leaves have turned dark and now droop.  My mums are dried up versions of their former selves. 

Like other plants, mums need sunshine and water to live and thrive.  They had oodles of sunshine-practically every day.  All I had to do was water them.  But I got busy, preoccupied with other stuff.  I meant to water them, I really did, always thinking of it when I didn’t have time or was heading somewhere else. 

If I’m not careful, I can get so busy I neglect other things, very important things.  

If I get so busy I neglect reading my Bible, I will become dried up spiritually-kind of like my flowers.  I need the daily nourishment of God’s Word applied liberally to my life so I will be able to face the small and gigantic things that come up.  How can I face Goliath, or the lion’s den, or the fiery furnace if I haven’t read encouraging true stories from Scripture?  How can I make good and right decisions if I am not measuring them by the instructions in the Word?  How can I encourage my family, coworkers, or neighbors if I haven’t hidden it in my heart?  Having the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6) is great, but if I don’t use it, I will go weaponless into battle.

If I get so busy I neglect talking to my heavenly Father, I will want to grumble and complain to anyone who will listen.  I will pour out my heart and words on social media or at work planting seeds of doubt and discord instead of taking my petitions to the Creator of the universe Who holds everything in His Hands.

I guess you could say that my mums were dehydrated.  Human bodies can get dehydrated, too.  Some signs of physical dehydration are extreme thirst, fatigue, dizziness, and confusion. 

It’s also possible to become spiritually dehydrated.  A few of those symptoms:  guilt, grouchiness, withdrawal from family and friends, heightened fear/anxiety, self-absorption. 

 The good news is that while spiritual hydration is painful, it is not fatal.  Naturally, God’s Word has the prescription for what ails us.  John 7:37-38 tells the story of Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles:  “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’”  If we are spiritually thirsty, Jesus is the answer!  Throughout the gospels, He encouraged those in need to come to Him for rest and refreshment.

We can learn from Jesus’ example of spending time alone with His Father.  Mark 6 shares what He did after a long day of ministry-feeding 5,000 men, plus their wives, and children:  “Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.  After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray,” (vs. 45-46).  Jesus, the Son of God, needed to spend time with God. If it was good enough for Him, it’s good enough for me!

My mums are a sad sight.  Though they are crispy like bacon, they can still teach a lesson!
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Dawn Reed is a newspaper columnist and pastor's wife. Reach her at preacherswife7@yahoo.com.