October 28th, 2025
Greetings, Church Family & Friends!
“I’m empty. The well's dry. I have nothing left.”
Those difficult and painful words have been spoken by godly people and leaders around the country. Perhaps you’ve muttered them yourself, or at least thought them when going through a difficult season. I have more often than I care to admit. For me, they came with additional baggage making the admission even harder.
One of my early mentors, a college professor I truly admired, told me there were only two reasons a Christ-follower would experience a spiritually dry season. One was forsaking spiritual disciplines, often meaning your prayer life or Bible reading had been neglected. The second was even worse. You had ongoing and unrepentant sin in your life. The discomfort of the dryness was God’s way of disciplining you.
That all made sense . . . until it didn’t. I was in a spiritually dry season where it seemed I was simply going through the motions. I confessed every sin of which I was aware. I read the Bible more and tried to pray more. Honestly, the net result was negligible, and the dryness continued. Then Elijah entered the scene.
Elijah was told by God to live in the ravine (I Kings 17:2-3). He was told to drink from the brook where he would be fed daily by ravens (v. 4). Elijah obeyed God, living right where God told him, enjoying ample food and water day after day (vv. 5-6). Everything was fine . . . until it wasn’t.
“Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land” (v. 7). That verse stopped me in my tracks. Elijah was where God told him to be, doing what God told him to do and the brook still dried up. He didn't abandon the spiritual disciplines or his calling. There was no blatant or secret sin in his life. Elijah was faithfully obedient and still found himself in a dry season.
That was absolutely freeing to me! Now it’s true dry seasons can happen when you’ve neglected your spiritual life or allowed sin to remain your life. But dry seasons can also happen when you are doing everything right. It is then God often has another lesson for us.
“Then the word of the Lord came to him, ‘Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food’” (vv. 8-9). Elijah had been obedient staying by the brook and enjoying God’s direct provision. But he needed to learn God’s provision often comes from the community of believers. The temptation to withdraw into isolation can be intense in dry seasons. God would drive us into community where our needs can be more than amply met.
Dry seasons, for whatever reason, are painful. But they are not the last word. You may need to refocus on spiritual development or confess a plaguing sin. Or you may be doing exactly what God said and he wants to remind you of the role of community. Either way, you’re waiting for God’s “showers of blessing” to come. And when they do, hitch up the chariot and hang on (I Kings 18:44)!
Blessings,
Pastor David
“I’m empty. The well's dry. I have nothing left.”
Those difficult and painful words have been spoken by godly people and leaders around the country. Perhaps you’ve muttered them yourself, or at least thought them when going through a difficult season. I have more often than I care to admit. For me, they came with additional baggage making the admission even harder.
One of my early mentors, a college professor I truly admired, told me there were only two reasons a Christ-follower would experience a spiritually dry season. One was forsaking spiritual disciplines, often meaning your prayer life or Bible reading had been neglected. The second was even worse. You had ongoing and unrepentant sin in your life. The discomfort of the dryness was God’s way of disciplining you.
That all made sense . . . until it didn’t. I was in a spiritually dry season where it seemed I was simply going through the motions. I confessed every sin of which I was aware. I read the Bible more and tried to pray more. Honestly, the net result was negligible, and the dryness continued. Then Elijah entered the scene.
Elijah was told by God to live in the ravine (I Kings 17:2-3). He was told to drink from the brook where he would be fed daily by ravens (v. 4). Elijah obeyed God, living right where God told him, enjoying ample food and water day after day (vv. 5-6). Everything was fine . . . until it wasn’t.
“Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land” (v. 7). That verse stopped me in my tracks. Elijah was where God told him to be, doing what God told him to do and the brook still dried up. He didn't abandon the spiritual disciplines or his calling. There was no blatant or secret sin in his life. Elijah was faithfully obedient and still found himself in a dry season.
That was absolutely freeing to me! Now it’s true dry seasons can happen when you’ve neglected your spiritual life or allowed sin to remain your life. But dry seasons can also happen when you are doing everything right. It is then God often has another lesson for us.
“Then the word of the Lord came to him, ‘Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food’” (vv. 8-9). Elijah had been obedient staying by the brook and enjoying God’s direct provision. But he needed to learn God’s provision often comes from the community of believers. The temptation to withdraw into isolation can be intense in dry seasons. God would drive us into community where our needs can be more than amply met.
Dry seasons, for whatever reason, are painful. But they are not the last word. You may need to refocus on spiritual development or confess a plaguing sin. Or you may be doing exactly what God said and he wants to remind you of the role of community. Either way, you’re waiting for God’s “showers of blessing” to come. And when they do, hitch up the chariot and hang on (I Kings 18:44)!
Blessings,
Pastor David
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