Our Encourager for This Month: Rev. Dawn M. Wayman
We Need Rain
Here in Maryland we find ourselves in the middle of an extended drought. This is in stark contrast to last fall when we got more rain than the ground could hold. This drought has left the dirt in my backyard cracked as if an earthquake hit and the grass crying out for its thirst to be quenched. And while this is upsetting given the time and energy I’ve put into my yard, it causes me to think about the droughts in our personal and spiritual lives.
Have you ever longed for God but could not feel, see, touch, or hear the Creator? In those moments of longing it can feel as if our lives have been engulfed by a drought. Our souls are cracked, and our beings long to be quenched by God’s living water. Yet, no matter how close we get to the well, no matter how close we get to the One who is willing to reach out and offer refreshment to a stranger, the Living Water escapes us.
We silently cry out, “We’ve been praying, we’ve been sowing, now we’re crying heaven send the rain.” The cry starts out in the depths of our hearts, no one knows we’re crying, no one hears us, and no one sees our shoulders breaking. But as the drought continues, our cry gets louder and louder and louder until we’re screaming, “WE’VE BEEN PRAYING, WE’VE BEEN SOWING, NOW WE’RE CRYING HEAVEN SEND THE RAIN!” We need God to send the rain!
And despite our cries, sometimes the refreshing rain does not fall from heaven . . . so we sit, we wait, we watch, and we anticipate God’s move in our lives.
We can be encouraged in knowing even in our thirst, our Creator is present with us. We can never be overlooked by the One who gave all for us. So, we should not get discouraged in the drought. The rain may not come today or tomorrow, but on the appointed day, heavenly rain will shower down and nourish our hearts. God will send the rain!
Lord, You know the drought of my heart and the depth of my thirst. I’m pleading and asking You to send the refreshing rain I need. But if You don’t, help me remember it’s not that You have left me, it’s simply that You are proving You have given me enough to thrive and survive in this dry place. For that, I am grateful. Amen.
©2019 Dawn M Wayman
Rev. Dawn M. Wayman, a native of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, began her formal walk in ministry on May 29, 2013 when she preached her initial sermon, “Go, Let My Light Shine,” at Mt. Calvary African Methodist Episcopal Church in Towson, MD under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Dr. Ann Lightner- Fuller. Rev. Dawn was ordained an itinerant deacon in March 2018 at the 202nd Session of the Baltimore Annual Conference and continues to serve on the ministerial staff at Mt. Calvary under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Bobby B. Cox, Jr.
Rev. Dawn is currently pursuing her Master of Divinity at Wesley Theological Seminary and anticipates graduation in May 2022. She is in the 4th year Board of Examiners class of studies. A writer at heart, Rev. Dawn’s work has been published in The Christian Recorder and The Anvil. Her devotions are published regularly on Portions of Grace, the website of the Mountain Christian Writer’s Group.