Sugar Bend Farm

Dry Places

1:31 PM, 2006-Sep-5 .. 2 comments .. Link

We've all been there.....those desert places you wander into along your spiritual walk. Your heart is heavy, your joy is fading, and the sweet communion you normally experience with the Lord becomes a mystery. What do YOU do when you're in your desert place? Do you sit there passively, quietly waiting for those springs of living water to come bubbling up within your spirit again? Do you take affirmative action, trudging ahead bravely? What do you do? -----
This question was posed on an online group that I am a member of called Women at Home. So I am going to post this and answer the question on my blog today.

If you have walked with the Lord for any length of time, you have been in the dry place. I have in the past and am currently there. My husband and I are going through a trial right now, not in our relationship, but in life. We all have them and life is a series of ups and downs, this being our down time. We have prayed and prayed and sought God's divine will in the situation, but nothing. Well nothing in the form that we expected an answer to our problem. I waited for God to move, but it seems as though the heavens are closed, like my prayers aren't getting through the stuff. I know that isn't true, but that is how it feels right now. I know in my mind that these are the times God requires faith on my part. But sometimes when the trials come, the faith can run low and we can feel lost in the trial. There are times we expect something miraculous to occur to "save" us from our situation. Like a genie in a bottle to come take care of the situation, and sometimes God does come in and provide the miracle needed, and everyone rejoices. But what about the times He doesn't? Then what do we think or believe about the situation? Well in Job's case, people thought that surely Job had done something to bring it upon himself, like a form of punishment. But we know that isn't true, so why would that be true in a believers life today. I have searched myself to see if there is something in my life that isn't pleasing to God, but have not found anything of significance, and have repented for anything that might be there. But still the heavens feel like brass in this situation. Then I think well, maybe there is a lesson in this for us. Perhaps something God wants to show us or led us to, in the midst of this. There is a possibility, so I pray and search the scriptures, and read supplimental materials to see if God reveals some lesson, so far nothing. Maybe it is for my husband...

But in it all, I know that our walk with God is this way, sometimes it seems that nothing can go wrong in the world, that God is right there moving and working in every turn. In those times you can see a miracle in ever little thing that happens to you. Even down to getting the front parking spot at Wal-Mart. In those times, you feel like you are walking on a cloud, and things are happening all around you and you can hardly get the prayer out before God answers in the positive. Those are great times, we all love those times, but those times don't last. We have to go through the valley and the dry desert times also. Those times when you must rely on your faith and what you know about God. The times when I am quiet and still and I just know that He is God. Sometimes, that is all I have, just the knowledge that He is God. I was sitting in church the other night, exhausted from the load I have been carrying. Praying and seeking His will in all of this, not know what the answer is. Wondering where the clear path went, not able to see the next step much less anything out there ahead. Just feeling utteraly lost in it all. Loaded down with the stress and worry of it all, and as I sat quietly listening to the wonderful worship filled singing, and the speaking and just letting the love of God bathe me, I just put to rest any bit of doubt that might have gotten hold of me. I said to God in an internal dialog, "Lord you see this situation, you know my heart and you know I don't know where the answer is going to come from or when. But one thing I know, you are a good God and you have never failed me yet. You have always been faithful to me and I trust you to continue to be so. I can't feel you, but I know you are there. I can't find you in this situation, but I know that you are aware of my situation and you are in control. I know that you are still with me and I am putting complete faith in you that you will see us through this. And if I know nothing else, I know that you are God and you are always worthy of praise." As I spoke those words in my heart and mind, I begin to feel a release from my soul, a lightening of the burden. No there was no bolt of lightening, no immediate solution to the problem, no miracle to testify about. But just a blessed reassurance that He is with me through this.

So I said all of this to say, that in the dry places, I just wait on God and rest in the knowledge that I know Him and I am His child and He will never leave me nor forsake me. And that there is a purpose in it. Maybe to help me grow, or help my faith to grow. Maybe it is so I will seek to draw closer to Him and move into a deeper place with Him. So for that reason, and to give me strength, I continue to pray and read and seek His face, daily. I continue to go to church and worship Him just as I always have. I stay consistant with my devotion to Him and show Him that I am faithful. And in doing so, I draw nearer to Him and grow closer to the person that He intended me to be. How long will this dry place last? I don't know the answer to that one. But I do know without wavering faith, that He will walk with me no matter how long the journey through my desert takes. Just like the children of Israel wondered in the wilderness, we all must make a journey or several journey's through in our lifetime. But just knowing that God is faithful, and that He takes the journey with us and we are never alone, makes the journey easier to take. Yes, I so long for a cool stream in my desert; an oasis, but for now, I must make the trek in the dry places. And although I don't necessarily "feel" Him with me, I know He is and I know that He will bring me through once again and when we come out on the other side, there will be sweet victory waiting for us. This I am sure of.