Return to Me

I sit in the darkened living room, hearing the voices of the many children in the basement...........dinner is simmering on the stove, the Christmas tree is lit and I sit.

I open my bible to Zechariah, remembering the promise found in the pages I read last year at this time.  I have but ten minutes but I long to make those minutes count.  So often lately the minutes have gone by too quickly and been filled with too much or too little of what counts.

I read.........and my eyes begin to fill.

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Return to me', declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you', says the Lord Almighty."
                  - Zechariah 1:3

Yes, Lord, yes...........I need to return to you.

How did You know?

These pages, filled with words written so long ago, come alive in those 10 minutes.  My heart soars as I read the promise..........return to me and I will return to you.

I close my eyes and think of how dry I have been, have felt.  And it's not enough that I have had time to sit and read or time to sit and be, I have not used that time to be with Him and I feel that dryness in my heart, my soul.  I close my eyes and I think back to when I was younger and used to sit in pizza shops with friends or restaurants with family.  When your drink came, with your straw......what did you do?  We always tried to make sure the paper the straw was wrapped in was scrunched up into the tiniest bit of space possible.  Then we would take the tip of our straw dip it into our drink and one drop of liquid would cause the paper to spread out and return to it's normal size.  It seemed to be a pretty cool trick.

I needed that drop.  I was that paper, shrunken and dry.

Yes, I will return.  I am here.  Are You?

My eyes still closed, waiting for that drop........and I experienced the goodness of the God I love.

For I saw an avalanche of water pouring out on me.  Fresh, beautiful blue waters pouring out and over me...........putting to shame the drop I was expecting.  What kind of God do I think I serve - a stingy, hard-hearted, unloving God?

And I remember back to reading the passage just the minute before.........when I stopped a moment to question why it said "Lord Almighty" three times in just one verse.  And it served to remind me.  It reminded me of the God I serve............the LORD ALMIGHTY.

Would the LORD ALMIGHTY dole out one drop at a time?

Or would the LORD ALMIGHTY send cascading, thirst-quenching, life-restoring waters to rain down on those who return to Him?

And the timer rang.

The muffins were done, the children still playing,making noise and needing to be called to the table, the soup needed to be ladled, nine plates waiting to be filled..............and I was ready.  No longer the dried up piece of paper I was before I sat.  I was filled.  I had returned to the One awaiting my arrival, expecting always to return to me.

Thank you, LORD ALMIGHTY, for Your word which is never stale, for Your waters which never run dry and Your Love which never goes cold.