Is there anything good about a drought?
A drought reveals what is permanent. A drought reveals what has deep, strong roots. The trees still have their green leaves and seem unaffected by the drought whatsoever. They are affected, but their deep roots will get them through.
That's how we survive a spiritual drought. Spiritual droughts are reality for all believers. It is a season that will visit us periodically. And it is a season that can destroy us if we haven't grown deep roots in the Word. If you are in a good place, it is vital to read the Word. Store up Word treasures in your soul for future droughts.
A spiritual drought sucks the life out of a person. Feelings are gone. Life is listless. You just go through the motions and wonder why you're going through the motions.
Droughts are God's will sometimes. He's gotta test what's in us so we know what we need to work on, what areas of our lives we need to allow God to do surgery.
I read briefly this morning about the dust bowl drought back in the 1930s. Many farms were started during an exceptionally wet period of history on the Great Plains. It was deceptive. And their was a wrong belief that plowing the earth brought rain because of the dust it put into the air. Of course we know now that that is wrong. But that wrong belief made the Dust Bowl Drought worse than it had to be. For these farmers kept plowing believing the plowing would bring the rain. They were wrong of course and paid for that wrong belief.
Spiritual drought does the same for us. It exposes wrong beliefs within us. When we are shown this we have two options -- we can let go of those beliefs and change our behavior or we can cling to them and continue on a course of destruction.
Drought reveals good things too. Years ago when we lived in Hughes County Medicine Creek flowed through our pasture. One year it got so dry that the creek (which in places is six feet deep or more) dried up -- except in our pasture there were two puddles that stayed puddles. We knew those had to be fed by underground streams. My husband and oldest son dug into one of these puddles and found one of those streams. Their digging helped the underground stream a bit and our horses had a bit more water to drink. Their efforts didn't bring enough water to fill the creek up of course. The drought was still obviously there, but it helped a bit. In a time of spiritual drought that's what we cling to -- efforts of digging into God's word and believing by faith (when you can't see or feel anything) that the Word is having its effect. The Word always affects us. It is a promise from God
"My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Thy word." Psalm 119:25
And another passage I have quoted so often:
"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth, And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10-11