Fertile Ground

Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous ; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture. Isaiah 30:23 (NASB) This morning, this verse melted my heart. When I think of my soul and what I want to pour forth from it, this is probably the best mental image I could ever have. I can just see His rain pouring into my soul, watering the seed of life within me. I can picture the harvest - an incredible growth in Him and outpouring of His rich and plenteous harvest in the world around me because He's able to grow His Spirit within me. When I back up to Is 30:18-19, I see a beautiful picture of how much God longs to be near to me. He longs to do these things in my life. How do I respond? Do I allow His Spirit to pour through my life like a nurturing spring rain? Or do I allow the "stuff" I hang on to in my life to knit together like a shield of weeds that blocks out the nutrients? Oh, how I desire to grow! How I desire to get rid of the things that continue to stunt that growth. How I long to be completely usable by Him! I let so much get in the way. My challenge is to intentionally allow Him to whittle those things away from my life until I am completely usable to Him.