These are flowers. No big deal. Very pretty I admit, but I see flowers all the time. However not these flowers! These we see maybe two or three times in a decade. This is a Death Vally “Superbloom.”

Thanks to some unusually heavy rain storms last fall, the generally very thirsty National Park that lives on the border between California and Nevada burst into life this spring with the most wildflowers it’s hosted in seven years —a rare event known as a “super-bloom.”

Under normal circumstances, Death Valley is a hard place for anything to live. The valley is one of the hottest places on the surface of the Earth and only gets a rough average of two inches of rain a year. On top of that, the soil in Death Valley simply isn’t great, composed of rocky earth, salt flats, and sand dunes. The desert region does get a smattering of wildflowers during normal years, but a series of heavy rainstorms in October triggered the recent burst of blooming flowers. Only three times in the last generation has there been such an explosion of color; in 2005, 2017 and now in the spring and summer of 2023.

Curiously, the potential for these flowers is there all the time. The seeds lie dormant in the soil of the desert waiting, just waiting in thirst. Waiting for a downpour that will ignite the bloom.

I wonder. Are you thirsty too?

Are you hoping to bloom? Is your spirit wondering what happened to those springs of living waters that flow out of the river of life that, upon drinking from, are said to quench our thirst forever? Are you thirsty for more of God?

Let’s take a segue!

In 2012, when I was serving as a Lead Pastor, I was thinking about making my personal Easter season more meaningful. You may find this hard to believe but in the life of a preaching pastor, Christmas and Easter are stressful. There is this sense that you have to tell the age old story of Jesus’ rising from the dead (a story that has been told a zillion times) in a fresh new way. I tend to believe that the congregation is expecting a sermon that will last a year. If ever you could hit a sermon grand slam, Easter would be the time. But in 2012, I was thirsty. I was thirsty for more of Christ. I was thirsty for more of His Kingdom presence. I did not think I was up to the task.

I decided that if I was thirsty for God perhaps a fast was in order.

That is not unusual for me. I have had a habit of fasting from various ‘worldly things’ – like food – so as to set my mind on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Usually, I found myself better at the end of the fast. Satisfied in ways that only God can satisfy.

So, this Easter, I made a decision to fast from food and water. In the past I had fasted from food for over ten days, but never from water as well. It was the story of Jesus on the night of His betrayal that inspired me. In the upper room on the night of Jesus’ Last Supper, Jesus put down the cup of Passover wine and said: “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29).

So, I decided that from Maundy Thursday evening to Easter Sunday afternoon of Holy Week I would fast from food and water. Two and a half days. That I would break my fast after my three services Easter worship services that morning.

That may have been my most difficult and yet satisfying Easter ever. I was so thirsty! In my prayers before the services, I asked God to help me. What I was especially worried about was that my mouth was so dry it was hard to speak clearly. And on Easter morning a preacher needs to preach clearly.

I have no idea whether that service was a grand slam for the congregation. My most vivid memory of that day was the glory of having a tall glass of very cold water about 1pm when I broke fast that Sunday.

I discovered an important spiritual lesson for myself during that Easter season. During the times of my own spiritual dryness, it is not so much that God has withdrawn His springs of Living Waters from me so much as I have forgotten to come and drink.

This is Dave Scherrer, and you are part of a Backyard Conversation hosted by 100 Fold Ministries. If you’d like, please consider sending a comment by way of an email to dave@100foldministries.org and let’s keep the conversation going!