“O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh faints for You, in a dry and thirsty land with no water.” / Psalm 63:1

Seasons of drought.

We’ve all gone through them. We all will go through them again. And again. And again.

Seasons of drought are inevitable in the lives of Jesus followers. They’re painful. They’re exhausting. They’re wearisome. They hit us out of nowhere. But in the life of a believer, dry seasons don’t equal unfruitful seasons.

Sometimes dry seasons are stemmed from a lack of fruit being produced in our lives (digging into scripture, praying, etc.), other times they’re stemmed from disobedience that we need to repent from, and other times seasons of dryness can be a simple transition from one season to the other. There is no rhyme or reason to seasons of dryness, but we must strive to go through them well. We must not let ourselves become complacent during the dryness, but remember that Daniel 2:20 says “God is wise and powerful! Praise Him forever and ever.” It doesn’t say “God is wise and powerful! Praise Him when you feel like it.” We must not let our circumstance dictate our worship. Your praise is a pathway to His presence.

The other day during a worship service, I was becoming increasingly frustrated and discouraged that it seemed like the Lord was withholding Himself from me because no matter how “hard” I worshiped, I simply didn’t feel Him there with me. I felt dry. I felt like I was wasting my time. I felt physically exhausted the moment I stepped into His presence. I said “Lord, You promised me that You withhold no good thing, but that feels opposite of the truth right now” and His response was “I don’t withhold good things, I sometimes just put them on hold.” And wow. What a promise. Breakthrough is coming. Seasons of flowing water is coming.

“Open up, heavens, and rain.
Clouds, pour out buckets of my goodness!
Loosen up, earth, and bloom salvation;
sprout right living.
I, God, generate all this.” / Isaiah 45:8

I don’t know about you, but when I’m going through a dry season, I feel absolutely useless to the Kingdom. I feel as if I’m adding no value whatsoever, but this is so far from the truth. God is a big God; He can use us in any season, whether magnificent or mundane. As I was pouring into someone the other day, the Lord so sweetly said to me “see, I am still using you.” as a gentle reminder that my feelings don’t dictate the movement of the Holy Spirit. He is alive, He is active, and He is moving, whether we “feel” it or not. Aren’t you so thankful for this truth?

Seasons of dryness are necessary in the lives of believers. They remove our dependence on our feelings and grow our dependence on the Lord. We must remember that complacency has no authority in our worship. So let’s always strive for more of Him; especially in the times where we don’t feel Him working at all. Let’s tell our feelings who our God is.

So amidst seasons of drought, let’s ask ourselves if we’re spending enough time in prayer, His Word, and worship. If we feel as if we’re not (which, let’s be real, we never are), keep pushing through. Keep pressing into the Lord even if you feel as if your time with Him is unfruitful; I can promise you that it never is. Don’t get into the habit of not spending time with Him. Don’t make your season of drought longer than necessary by putting the Lord on the back burner. God is calling you to move forward to a new thing and a deeper understanding of who He is. Don’t miss it.

“Come!” say the Spirit and the Bride.
Whoever hears, echo, “Come!”
Is anyone thirsty? Come!
All who will, come and drink,
Drink freely of the Water of Life!” / Revelation 22:17

Truths to speak over yourself during seasons of drought:

– God is not punishing me
– God wants to spend time with me
– This season is temporary
– This season is fruitful, necessary, and growing
– I will not let complacency result from the dryness
– He is worthy of my worship even when I don’t feel like worshiping
– He withholds no good thing from me, including Himself
– He is never far from me
– When I draw near to Him, He draws near to me
– He is still using me in mighty ways