I think we've all experienced a season of "dryness" in our lives...and that's a good time to always, always seek the Lord and draw closer to Him.
I was really encouraged in this recent article by Helen Calder in which she shares how she overcame spiritual dryness and what came out of it.
I think this is a NOW word for many...I pray it blesses and encourages you to move forward through any spiritual dryness you may be dealing with right now! (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)
When I began writing on my Enliven Blog ten years ago, I was spiritually dry and recovering from burnout. Yet now, as I write this on my glob's tenth anniversary, I look back in amazement at what can only be a move of the Holy Spirit.
So, if you can relate to feeling weary; if you sometimes wonder how you can complete the work God has called you to, be encouraged. Your Father wants you to know that He is unfailing. There is never any moment you where cannot draw life from Him! And if you have experienced spiritual dryness, you can be refilled.
Below is the story of how I overcame spiritual dryness, as well as some helpful keys to overcoming this in your own life.
1. Realize Your Weakness Is Not an Obstacle to God
Contemplating this milestone of a decade has been both wonderful and humbling for me; it is a miracle of God's grace that has made this possible, with the generous help of others. But to be honest, at the time, the thought of doing it again, even for one more week, was daunting! That is until I paused in prayer, and suddenly found myself in a vision.
In the vision, I was by a bubbling brook, surrounded by greenery. There was an indescribable peace in that place. The brook's water was flowing endlessly through a large rock. Then I noticed something. The water was pouring forth from the mouth of a clay jar. I suddenly knew that clay jar was cracked and broken, but it was completely encompassed by the rock. Within the rock, the jar was tilted in such as way that the water poured forth endlessly; only its mouth was visible.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Cor. 4:7 NIV) (Photo via Flickr)
Do you feel weak, or even cracked and broken in some way? Your weakness is not an obstacle to Him. Hear your Father say, "My grace towards you is such that My glory will shine through you and My power be seen upon you!" (2 Cor 12:9).
2. Be Dependent Upon Jesus
The clay jar I saw in the vision had capacity to pour because it was held and encased in the rock. You can have complete security in Jesus when He is your Rock, your source of life.
"[A]nd all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." (1 Cor. 10:4 NKJV)
A cure for spiritual dryness is to be continually dependent upon Him. This is a position you can hold by faith.
Jesus explained it this way: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5 NKJV).
Your longevity in ministry doesn't rest on your ability or diligence, as important as these things are. It rests on your dependence upon Christ. Jesus uses the image of the vine and the branches to illustrate what He means by "abiding in Him." The branches are a part of the vine—an extension of it. They are not merely joined, they are one.
You can have...(continue reading)
