There is something about the life of following Jesus that brings about dry seasons at times.
OK, I say that based on my experience and maybe one or two other followers that I’ve come across and read about. Maybe the super spiritual types don’t experience that and are just on fire for Jesus all the time. Kudos to those saints.
My walk is one marked by some seasons of feeling dry. It’s also marked by seeing others who clearly have had better days following Jesus. The types who for a variety of reasons don’t have the drive and desire for Kingdom matters that they used to.
That’s not helped by some expressions of gathering that are all good with hype or with familiarity. They are not as good at discerning when the patterns of gathering have become so well-worn that it’s more about what people can rustle up in terms of enthusiasm, rather than genuine encounters of the divine kind. Effort is made at whipping up a frenzy of excitement and happy-clappy feelings as token gestures to a God who has said on a number of occasions how He’s not impressed with external efforts when the heart is not in it. While that happens folks are dying, folks are dry in the key sense of their walk with Christ and the fruit that should be a product of that walk.
In those dry seasons, I am grateful for folks who know what it is to walk through such seasons and appreciate again what it means to be refreshed, revived and restored by those precious encounters of the divine kind. It’s not about thrill-seeking. I don’t see life in the Spirit to be one about thrill-seeking. I do see it as one where there’s a conscious and encouraging engagement with what God desires. It’s why exploring His Word and seeing how He interacts with that great variety of individuals is something I take solace in. It wasn’t the case that those who heard from Him and lived for Him had mountaintop experiences all the time.
This is why I love the God who sees and understands and walks with us and leads us to places of refreshing, revival and restoration. He sees us and sees the heart that yearns for Him. He sees us and our desire to live in the Spirit, full of the Spirit operating in the power of the Spirit and endeavouring to do that whilst enduring setbacks, misunderstandings, disappointments and failings. He hears the earnest prayers of the saints who are not chasing revival because it sounds like a great thing to chase as though it’s the answer to all the problems. He hears the longing of the hearts of those who have tasted and seen that King Jesus is sweet and that the Kingdom He ushers in isn’t limited to warm-heart sentiments. He hears the desire of the saints that know that living in the presence and power of God did not end when the the first century church died out. He hears the pleas of the saints who have experiened His love and long to be faithful to Him in the hope of seeing Him show His Kingdom in their lives, in their families, in their communities and beyond.
All this is sparked by that heart refreshed, renewed, revived, and restored by that Spirit-filling connection to the risen, victorious and glorious Saviour. That heart that again knows that it is not about self-life anymore, it’s all about the life of Christ that dwells within because of that awesome Holy Spirit. That spark of that one heart reaching the heart of God and pouring out His mercy, compassion and love to others and finding another heart sparked in the same manner.
This is the portion of those who at times wander through dry seasons and sometimes feel that it’s hopeless, that efforts are in vain, that their best goes unnoticed and doesn’t appear to be making a difference. To those in that situation who struggle from time to itme, their portion as they look to the Good Shepherd is to see Him making them to lie down in green pastures and engage in some soul restoration.
That in the knowledge that it ignites the hope again – the hope of eternal life spent with the Saciour of our souls in a rule of righteousness producing peace.
It is reassuring to know this in the middle of a dry season.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 