How Drought Produces New Growth

[ WordBytes of Franciscan Moments ]

In the 1990s, the southeastern states suffered a long drought. Living through it taught me something about my personal spiritual growth.

Swampy Florida, where I live, has been resculptured by developers into lots of retention ponds so that the houses they built and the stores and the roads don’t get sucked into muck. These man-made ponds also make beautiful scenery for backyards and parks and church properties.

During the drought, the water level sank lower and lower and lower. We learned how deep the ponds are, for we saw birds wading in them. If the drought had continued much longer, we would have seen them completely empty. Indeed, some ponds did dry up.

While this was happening, I noticed something interesting. The grass that surrounded the ponds became brown for lack of nourishment, but the dirt of the pond floor, which was normally under water, sprouted with lush, green vegetation.

When the ponds are full, little grows there, but during a drought’s drain on the ponds, new growth spurts up. So too with our spiritual lives. When we feel dry, when God seems far away, when we endure problems that drain us, our personal droughts produce new growth that never would have occurred otherwise.

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© 2000 by Terry A. Modica
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