Spiritual Drought
Spiritual Drought
For I know some of you may be singing “Rain, rain go away”. But, in our part of the world, I have found myself dragging a water hose around, for weeks, making sure the trees and shrubs that have no irrigation survive this drought.
Upon planting these beauties’, I took no thought of such necessary actions. I am now questioning my sanity of planting so many, as it takes hours every day to accomplish this chore. However, without help, they would never survive the stress of the drought. We have gone over six weeks with absolutely no rain. Therefore, you can understand why I was fairly excited when we received a blessed 2¼ inches.
I feel like my spiritual life has been in a drought lately too. With all the trials from recent months, it seems instead of it bringing me closer to God, it has put me in a funk.
Have you ever been there?
There is nothing wrong with admitting it, we all go through these dry periods in our relationship with Him. This is, of course, just what the enemy wants. When he can come between us and our relationship with the Lord, he is delighted. We must learn to recognize that those whispers of doubts are coming directly from Satan. Then we can then look to the one who will satisfy our thirst in times of drought.
As Isaiah tells us, we will be like a watered garden, a spring whose waters never fail.
The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, And give strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. (Isaiah 58:11 NKJV)
Whenever I recognize these times of spiritual drought, times when I’m praying, seeking God so diligently for answers, yet, “my desired” answer never comes, that’s when I pull away. I don’t do it intentionally, still, I do it. Those are the times when I go to the word and am reminded that it is I who has changed directions. Our Heavenly Father never walks away from us. Therefore, when I feel distant from Him, it is I who needs to move closer in my walk with Him.
Yes, God is there to satisfy our souls, and strengthen or bones. To water us from a spring that never runs dry. However, just as I have to put forth the effort to ensure my plants survive the stress of this drought, we also must take necessary steps to ensure our spiritual life is being watered. We do this by staying in His word and through communication with Him.
Even though He may not answer our prayers in the way we would hope, we know He loves us and will provide for our needs. We can rest knowing that while His ways are not our ways, His word will accomplish His good and perfect desire for us. (Isaiah 55: 8-11)
