September 11

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring. — Isa 44:3 BSB

When God pours out his Spirit on the children of Zion, he pours out every spiritual blessing that he has in his heart or hands to give. No matter what earthly good you may have, without God’s blessing, it will only turn to a curse. But whatever afflictions you face in this life, if God blesses them, they will all ultimately bring blessings. And this blessing isn’t given sparingly, for the Lord promises that he will POUR it out! It will be given as abundantly and freely as the Spirit himself. Zion will have no doubt about the blessing or where it comes from, for it carries its own evidence, shines in its own light, and shows itself by its effects.

The contrast between the dry ground and the promised showers of blessing makes it even sweeter. Your very barrenness and lack of fruitfulness make the promise all the more fitting and precious. When you look inside yourself, you see a barren wilderness. But when you look up, you see the clouds of blessing hovering in the pure sky. You remember the Lord’s promise: “I will pour water on the thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” You beg him to fulfill that promise in your soul. You have no other plea than his own word of promise, no other recommendation than your own desperate barrenness. He enables you to cry out to him. He hears that cry and, in his own time, pours water upon your thirsty soul and floods upon your dry and parched heart. Oh, may our sense of poverty and need be the very means, in God’s hands, to lead us to seek the blessing that only he can give!