He knows how to comfort us in times of ambiguity and confusion. He loves us and desires a relationship with us. Pursue him and he will pursue you.
Opening my Bible, I read 1 Kings 17 with fresh eyes. Although I had read this passage before, I saw it with renewed wisdom. When we think about the prophets, we often think of them as these extraordinary people who receive these huge assignments from God because of their perfect, impeccable faith. However, the Bible is great at highlighting people who were just like us. They wrestled with many things just like us. They dealt with fear, doubt, depression, anxiety, and chronic ailments.
Moses was filled with fear when he asked God to send someone else to be His mouthpiece because he believed he could not speak well in public. Elijah was also imperfect, yet he took faith-filled risks as well. The name Elijah is derived from a Hebrew word, meaning “Jehovah is my God.” Elijah was a prophet known for upholding the worship of God and destroying false idols in King Ahab’s presence. But he has his share of trials, too.
We, like Elijah, experience periods of spiritual dryness in our lives. Not knowing how to navigate it, though, can be difficult, leaving us feeling frustrated, angry, and emotionally distant. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here’s how I learned to navigate spiritual dryness:
Break Off the Idols
“Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ‘Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.’ So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. Some time later, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.”’ I Kings 17:3-4
Kerith means “the place of breaking.” It is interesting to note that God brought him to a place of breaking before He performed miracles through him. Before we grow, we must break off the idols in our lives, too. Elijah had to give up the creature comforts of freely flowing water and the food he needed. During this time, he had to rely on the brook's and the birds’ supply of food to keep him alive. When we are in spiritual dryness, we must rely on the Lord’s provision to get us through the tough times.
Lower the Expectations
Movies and other forms of communication portray the spiritual life as one big spiritual high. We attend concerts, listen to music, and have entertaining church experiences. But the reality is far from that. We all experience highs and lows in our spiritual lives. Sometimes these are because of circumstances. At other times, it is just a season that the Lord has appointed us to be in.
Whatever the reason, we must lower our expectations that every day will be a great day as a Christian. Sometimes we enter difficult seasons of pruning from the Lord; He prunes off anything dead that is prohibiting us from having an abundant life in Him. God doesn’t want anything to come between us when it comes to our spiritual growth. He will cut off all the things that prevent us from having an abundant, intimate relationship with him.
Life isn’t one big romantic comedy where everything ends happily and gets tied up in a tight, red bow. Life gets messy. Relationships get tough. Marriages crumble. Money dries up. Health deteriorates. Yet, the Word of God never changes. The Lord remains steadfast despite what we go through. While we can count on the Lord, we must recognize that life will not always be happy.
Seasons come and go, including the tough ones. It won’t always be this way. Things do get better. God does use time to help heal wounds, although some wounds are harder to heal than others. Take every day as it comes. Like Elijah, cling to the Lord. Let Him provide when times get tough. Let Him be the Ultimate Healer. He does the best job at it, and He promises never to leave us or forget about us.
Don’t Lose Perspective
1 Kings 19 shows us that Elijah dealt with depression, fear, and doubt. He went from performing great miracles to lying under a broom tree, begging the Lord to kill him. My question is, “How did he get there?” He had just spent three years performing great miracles in Jesus’ name. One order from a wicked woman sent him spiraling into a depressive spiral. He does recover eventually, but it is clear he lost perspective. He had forgotten how good God was and how much God loved him and still had plans for him.
Don’t lose perspective. When you enter a time of dryness, remember how good God has been before now. Make a practice of counting your blessings. Start a blessing journal and write down the blessings you've experienced over the past week or month. As you begin to count, be amazed at how present God has been with you. He remains the same steadfast God, even if the blessings are harder to count during this season.
Start Small
If you find you have stopped praying or are not engaged in God’s Word because of this spiritual dryness, don’t fear. Take small steps towards reconnecting with God. Pray for ten minutes. If that’s too difficult, set a timer on your phone and sit in silence for a few minutes. Don’t talk to God; let Him speak to you. He may have something to say about this time in your life. God is in control. He knew this time would come, and He knows how to handle it. But we must let Him. Read one chapter of the Bible rather than tackling five at a time.
Small steps are better than no steps at all. It’s quality over quantity. Five minutes of deep prayer is better than twenty minutes of superficial requests. Take one step one day, then another the next day. Don’t give up. The enemy wants nothing more than for us to give up on our relationship with God. Satan must have rejoiced when Elijah sat under that tree. But it wasn't until he climbed the mountain to reconnect with God that he was reconciled, and the Lord was faithful to answer him in that pursuit. God is faithful even when we are not.
He knows how to comfort us in times of ambiguity and confusion. He loves us and desires a relationship with us. Pursue him and he will pursue you. Revelation 3:20 says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
The Christian life is not easy, especially during a season of dryness. Although everyone experiences it from time to time, the most important thing to do is to anticipate its arrival. Remember, not every day is a spiritually high day, and it will never be that way in a fallen world. No one remains in a constant state of bliss. Break off the idols or anything that prohibits you from a vibrant walk with Christ. God loves us. He desires fellowship with us. Navigate spiritual dryness with courage and knowledge, and you will find yourself closer to the Lord than ever before at the end of it.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/ Sarah Lage
