Spiritual dryness.

We have all gone through it at some point of time. God being gracious is always aware that there are times that His children may not feel like it, given the circumstances they’re in.

But what if you are not aware that you have drifted away from Him?

Sometimes, we may find ourselves in a dry place, but this must be transient as continuing to be in this state can lead to dangerous consequences. This two-part series talks about how to know the signs of being in a dry spell and what can be done to overcome it.

So what are the tell-tale signs of being in a spiritual rut? Lets look at the 3 major ones:

1. Always complaining or being skeptical about God’s work

When we are hurt or bitter, the first thing we do is try to reason what we think is behind the problems that we face. If we decide God is to blame for our problems or we start experiencing skepticism in His work, know that this is the first sign of spiritual dryness.

The Israelites walked for forty years in the midst of the glory of God. They could literally reach out and feel His presence go with them. But alas! They were never grateful for it and often complained in the wilderness not being able to look beyond their fleshly needs. Eventually, God rebuked them and many lost their lives. But my guess is that even though they physically walked close to God’s presence, they were spiritually farther away. This made them wearisome and almost at the verge of giving up.

2. Feeling depressed most times

Frankly, we may not always be in the best of our moods but if we find ourselves constantly depressed or find it hard to come out of it then the underlying reason would be being distant from God. How would a believer be otherwise? The best example is what David says in his Psalm43:5:

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

You see, David stirred up his depressed soul with the reminder to hope again in the Lord because he knows it was dangerous if he did not. This is how a believer renews his spirit in the lord. On the contrary, remaining depressed will lead you to become distant from Him.

3. Finding excuses not to pray or read the word

The Bible clearly says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17,

Pray without ceasing.

A spirit-filled Christian who has an active relationship with Christ never finds praying or Bible meditation a chore or a burden that has to be done but something that he or she wants to do to renew their relationship with Christ.

So if you think you have been burdened or hesitant to pray, then you may be going through a season of spiritual dryness.

But worry not, I wouldn’t leave you to wallow in your dry season, would I? There is definitely help for you. In my next post, I will be covering about the things you can do to get back in shape so, stay tuned.

In the meantime, I would really appreciate if you’d like to share any thoughts on this topic in the comment section below.

God bless.

 

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