Does anyone else ever feel like the flourishing seasons in our lives only last for a month, while the dry seasons when we’re seriously struggling and hurting seem to last for much longer?
There are long periods of time when I feel like I have nothing to offer God. Especially during this season of COVID-19 – my energy is spent, my drive is limited, and my passion falls flat. It’s times like these when we need to stop striving and trying to do things all the time and instead go back to our original purpose:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.
Matt 22:37-38
The number one thing that we’re called to do is love God, and in order for us to do that, we have to first know that He loves us. We love because He first loved us – by that logic, humans were created out of love, to be loved, and to then love. We weren’t called to do things for God to get Him to love us.
The Psalmist says:
I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to Heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
Ps 139: 7-11
God is with you in the flourishing seasons and the dry seasons. He needs you to remember that.
The longer I follow Jesus, the more I see that refreshment only comes in one form, and one form alone. Not by might, not by power, but by His Spirit.
In this season, it’s so easy to find yourself riddled with doubt or uncertainty. I encourage you to look to Him. Step out of the barriers of your fear, and instead ask: How am I going to make the most of this moment with what He has already given me?
God will soon reveal to you, that when you are doing what you do, for His purpose, you will not fail.
When things don’t go as expected – trust the reroute. Your vision doesn’t end simply because the road to it changes. If you’re in a desert season that seems like it won’t ever end, don’t walk through it alone. Let God in and let Him bring you new hope. Allow yourself to be loved and live out of love.
WRITER: Margaret Graham, attends Avondale College Church.