You may feel like you’re in a spiritual desert, but your rainy season is coming.

By Shawn A. Akers

Have you ever felt like God’s Living Water, his beautiful stream, has simply dried up in your life? Perhaps you’re unhappy with your job. Maybe your finances are in dire straits. Or, it could be you have experienced years of infertility and don’t know if God really cares.

As I have shared in previous blogs, my wife and I are going through some financial troubles right now. We have incurred some huge bills in the past year–braces for both of our children at $7,000 each; a new air conditioner at nearly $10,000; two auto repair bills at more than $1,000 each. Sometimes you wonder when the storm will cease and you beg for grace and mercy.

But that’s minimal compared to the pain of couples who have struggled with infertility. My wife and I dealt with that issue years ago, and I wrote a piece for Charismamag.com detailing it.

After four-plus years, I still receive emails from those who have encountered issues in having children. One, whom I won’t name by name, writes (it’s cleaned up a bit but not fully): “My husband and I have gone through the infertility struggle for almost 11 years now. We got married young. Today I’m 33, he is 37 we are currently blessed with one son who’s a surviving twin;after 3 failed IVF we have since had another 4 failed ivf; as we had wished to have another baby. Our case is male factor infertility; it’s hard as I’ve lost all hope we would not desire to use and donors as we want to be 100% biological parents. My faith in God is really low but see that there’s nothing or no one I’m supposed to depend on but Him. I would try to make myself feel better with alcohol as I’m extremely depressed. I’m at my lowest but see that the only light is God.  From yesterday I told myself that I would pray about it as my husband does believe. I’m just skeptical if to me it doesn’t make sense. It’s hard for it to sit in my head.”

I have counseled those who have written me, and, praise God, some have written back to say that God has blessed them with children. But it’s heartbreaking to hear of the pain this woman has been through.

After much prayer and seeking God, I ran across this passage from John and Lisa Bevere’s book Pathway to His Presence, that I pray will find a way into her heart. It applies to others’ situations also, others who have experienced a “dry season” and felt as if God was nowhere near them. If you are going through something similar, I pray this blesses you:

“These dry times are ripe opportunities for heart-to-heart discussions with the Father. It is at such times that we are most receptive to His counsel and guidance.”

“Perhaps you feel frustrated as you search for direction from God. Maybe you’ve prayed and silence was the only response. Job, a patriarch of one of the oldest books of the New Testament, had such an experience. His life fell apart–his wealth disappeared, his sons and daughters were suddenly killed, and he was struck down with a physical illness. Yet, throughout every trial, Job remained faithful and trusted the Lord. out of his doubt and frustration, he cried, ‘If I only knew where to find God, I would go to His court. I would lay out my case and present my arguments. Then I would listen to His reply and understand what He says to me (Job 23:3-5).’ Job knew that God was in charge of his life. Yet for a time he felt that God eluded him and heaven was silent.

“You may run up against a set of circumstances that raised many questions in your mind, and it caused you to want to plead your case face-to-face with God. These dry times are ripe opportunities for heart-to-heart discussions with the Father. It is at such times that we are most receptive to His counsel and guidance. It is then that our dry spirits long for the cool refreshing, living water only He can give. Every Christian passes through a wilderness experience at one time or another. It’s not the time to seek His hand, but the time to seek His heart. Seeking God’s heart produces character and strength. Your time in the wilderness prepares you for the promised land. … The wilderness experience is designed to train and prepare you for a new movement of God’s Spirit in your life–provided you enter the experience with wisdom and a heart for God. Enter it with the wrong attitude or simply search for an escape route, and you will probably experience hardship, frustration and even defeat. It’s critical to understand God’s purpose for dry times.”

If you need a lift from the pit of hell you are experiencing, I would also like to recommend a book called 41 Will Come, by Chuck E. Tate.  With God’s help, it will lift you up.

Please let me know if this touches your heart and it blesses you. I would love to pray for your situation. Thank you for reading.

And remember to do something to come up higher in your kingdom calling today.

Step Out of the Boat is a ministry created by Charisma Media Content Development Editor Shawn A. Akers and dedicated to help Christ followers to become spiritual champions and come to a more intimate relationship with Jesus. With its articles, podcasts and other forms of media, Step Out of the Boat encourages Christ followers to daily reach to a higher level in their calling. Shawn is a 35-year veteran sportswriter, a published poet and he published a story about Dale Earnhardt in NASCAR Chicken Soup for the Soul. You can read his blog here. You can also listen to his podcasts, the Javelin Sports Show, on the Charisma Podcast Network.