Why God Has You in a Dry Season

Have you ever been in a spiritually dry season? Do you know what that is? In today's video, learn why God may intentionally lead you into a season that might not make sense and how to experience His faithfulness even when He feels distant. Enjoy!

Have you ever experienced a season where it was hard to hear from God, sense His presence, or remember His goodness? Often times in these seasons we may think God is mad at us, we did something wrong, or even that we may be under spiritual attack. But what if I told you that sometimes God will lead you to a dry season on purpose? Because He does and understanding why God would do this is the first step to navigating a spiritually dry season with faith and strength. So in today's video, you will learn:

• 🐪 What a spiritual dry season is and 5 signs to know if you are in one.
• ✝️ 3 reasons why God would intentionally lead you to a dry season and how to maintain your faith despite how you feel.
• 📖 5 promises of God to hold onto when He feels distant.

But first, let’s answer the question, what exactly is a dry season? A spiritually dry season is a period of time when you don’t feel connected to God. It’s a feeling of distance from God that can cause you to experience emptiness, dissatisfaction, and maybe even frustration as you have a difficult time hearing from God and feeling His presence as you have before. You may find yourself asking where are you Lord?

Have you ever experienced this before? If you’re not sure, here are some signs you may be in a dry season:

• Spiritual practices like prayer and Bible reading that once encouraged you don’t at the moment. 
• You’re having a difficult time hearing from God.
• You feel stuck and confused and are not sure which direction to take.
• You’ve questioned if you’ve done something wrong, although you’re not sure what and you wonder if God is mad at you (He’s not by the way)
• Your feeling of distance from God has increased your feelings of fear and anxiety.

If you’ve checked the box on 3 or more of these signs, chances are high you're in a dry season, and although there’s no need to worry I get it.

The first time I experienced a spiritually dry season, not going to lie, I went into a panic. I was like God, where are you? What did I do wrong and I wasn’t even sure what to do. It was in that season I had to decide if I believed God’s truth or my feelings. Just because I didn’t feel God, did not change the truth and promise of His Word to me or You. 

It was shortly after that, I realized God used that day season to strengthen my confidence in His Word despite my feelings. Feelings aren't bad but we want to ensure they don’t get us off track from what is true. God has a reason for everything even when we don’t understand or feel like it. 

The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness before He started His ministry. The Israelites were led into the wilderness before they entered the Promised Land.  While we will do our best to avoid dry seasons, God has a habit of leading us to them, for a reason.

3 Signs God is Calling You to a Dry Season

1. God is Growing You

When it comes to growing spiritually the Bible talks about believers who first need spiritual milk (1 Peter 2:1) and grow up to need spiritual solid food. (Hebrews 5:13-15) Like a child, our souls need different types of care depending on what season we are in. What a new believer needs will differ from someone who is more mature in their faith. The distance you feel in this season may reflect a spiritual desire and appetite for more as you are growing and this is a good sign. In short, you need more of God and this dry season serves to grow you for more. 

I haven’t experienced many day seasons but when I’ve endured them I’ve always come out stronger on the other side, which often was the point. So God may lead you to a dry season to grow your spiritual strength and desire for Him. 

I had a friend reach out to me one time saying that they were having a difficult time hearing from God. They were doing what they always did to connect with Him but something felt off. They wondered if they did something wrong. I encouraged them that this may be a sign of growth and what once satisfied their soul may no longer be enough. The good news is that God is our everlasting source for everything we need. He has more to give you. It’s easy in a dry season to say, ‘This God thing isn’t working. Let me see what the world has to offer.’ But don’t be fooled. God is not leading you to a spiritual dry season to leave you empty but to show you to the only source that can truly satisfy your soul: Himself.

2. God is Testing You

When Gods growing you He's stretching you to do something new but He’ll also use a dry season to reinforce what He’s already taught you.

When you take a test at school the teacher is not looking over your shoulder giving you the answers. If they did, it would not be a test. Instead the teacher is quiet and you better be too. Because the purpose of the test is to see what you already know. So this dry season you are in may not be a sign of spiritual infancy that needs growth but spiritual maturity that requires us to remember and live out what we already know to be true about God.

I’ve shared that God will grow us in a dry season. It’s here that He’s stretching us to get to deeper levels of faith with Him. But He may also lead to you a dry season to test what He’s already taught you. He’s getting quiet to see if you can live out in a dry season what you learned in a harvest season. 

3. God is Drawing You to Himself

Regardless if God is growing or testing you, there’s one outcome you can always expect when you make it through a dry season.

God is drawing you to Himself. He’s trying to get your attention. He’s shifting you so that you don’t start relying on your own efforts to connect with Him. It’s a humbling reminder that there is nothing we can do to get to God but that our relationship with Him is solely reliant on His grace and mercy.

I’ve had seasons where I’d feel spiritually dry and it feels like nothing satisfies me. Things that once satisfied, no longer do and I wonder what’s wrong. It’s then God would reveal it was time for me to seek Him like you’d seek an oasis in a desert. He’d remind me that nothing can satisfy like Him. Isaiah 58:11 tells us:

When David was in the wilderness of Judah, he said:

Dry seasons have a special way of reminding our souls that we desperately need God and that without Him, we can do nothing. Let this revelation inspire your desire to seek God more. Don’t get discouraged; press in. When you can’t feel God’s presence, hold on to His promise.

God’s promises to be will you always, to comfort you with the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit, to never leave or forsake you, and to always be near, especially in times of trouble. 

It’s easy to rely on what we see to determine if we feel we are right with God. But our feelings don’t save us. It’s only God’s grace, and in a dry season, this truth is tested to the fullest. We’re required to remember just because we feel distant from God does not mean we are. Especially when He has promised to always be with us and never leave us. It’s in dry seasons that our faith is required to water the seeds of God’s truth in our hearts. God may seem far in a dry season, but these seasons act as invitations to seek Him more as they remind us just how much we need God for everything we do, a truth that we can often overlook and forget in harvest seasons. And that’s the blessing of a dry season, they pull out a desperation and desire in us that leads us back to God.

Our goal in a dry season is to develop your faith and belief in God in a way we could never do  in any other season. So if you find yourself in a dry season, don’t be discouraged. Remind yourself of God’s truth and water your soul with His promises because they never change no matter what season you are facing.

And if you’re not sure what next steps to take while navigating a dry season, check out this video where I share 3 practical sets to take when it feels like God is silent. 

For more encouragement, download my free Bible Study called “Worry-Free” to learn the 3 lies feeding your worry and the truth to set you free at belovedwomen.org. Thanks for watching and until next time, be beautiful, be blessed, and beloved.