I've been led on.

Tonight, I feel like I've been led on. The rainy season is a tease. We had a brief flirtation, and I was tantalized by the cool breeze and the freshness of the air for a brief, fleeting moment. But oh, the rains are fickle. They have already moved on, leaving me high and dry.

The electricity has followed suit. Perhaps the rain and the electricity have run away together, never to return to this fair city.

Yup, that's right. It was just plain hot again today. 40C this afternoon (39C in my office), and not a cloud in the sky... yet the humidity is building. It just needs to rain again to get all the moisture out of the air, and I'll be a much happier camper!

Tonight, we don't even have electricity to run the fans, and the air is so still. Not a breath moving. So, yeah, it's a bit hot. I gotta drink some more water before I go to sleep, so I don't dehydrate whilst sleeping.

But it does remind me of a passage from Isaiah 58 which is quickly becoming very near and dear to my heart. It was read again at our Sunday evening "fellowship" a few days ago:

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

Truly, I live in a sun-scorched land, which is so in need of rebuilding! There are so many things and people here that need restoring, and I want the Lord to use me in that. I want to be a well-watered garden in this place, living out of the spring that never fails!

And, speaking of springs, I'm feeling a dehydration headache coming on already... so let the hydration begin!