Rain, rain and more rain

EVEN as I type these words, rain is still battering against my window.

The TV news is still full of reports from flooded areas - the Somerset levels, the Thames, the Severn.

It seems that almost every day we're told that we've had a month's rainfall in just a few hours.

Perhaps, like me, you find it almost impossible these days to conjure up memories of hot, dry summer holidays.

Did we really strip off and sunbathe on the beach?

Was there really a drought for weeks on end?

Did acres of pasture land really turn brown and dusty?

Those memories seem so distant with the floods and rain all around us.

So it's hard for me to get into the mindset of the writer of a well-known Bible verse, Psalm 42 verse 1:

As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, my God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

Imagine that!

In the parched deserts of Palestine some three thousand years ago, a simple shepherd boy finds words to express his deepest longing. It's not a cooling drink of water that he needs, but a personal relationship with God.

I've been a Christian since my childhood - but I must confess that moments like that are very rare for me.

Do I really crave a deep, personal contact with God more than anything else?

The good news is that, if and when I do, God always meets me at my point of need.

He satisfies my inner emptiness.

He refreshes my soul.

How about you?

Have you ever felt spiritually parched, your soul thirsty for refreshment?

God is there for you.

Just reach out to him.

Across the world, around 18 million people have found God through the Alpha Course.

And there are courses in the Stroud area to help you in your search.

There's one in Minchinhampton, beginning on April 3.

You'd be very welcome.

Find out more at www.minchbc.org.uk