In my life there are the same two seasons: the rainy and the dry.
It seems like there's never really an "in between" season. It's either dry and dusty and hot and filthy, or it's rainy and beautiful and wet and green.
I think every child of God experiences both of these seasons, for our Creator knows full well that both sun and rain are necessary for spiritual growth.
In 2016 I entered a dry season that was as unexpected as it was unwelcome. During that time, everything seemed empty and broken. Physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally - every part of me felt utterly feeble and worn out. My weaknesses were in full view - so where was God's perfecting power? Why was I stumbling so badly?
God had taken me down from the heights of my pride and selfishness and laziness, and had graciously ushered me into a low place, a valley, that was to be my home for the next 1-1/2 years.
And there, in that dry place, I learned.
I learned to say, "Thy will be done."
I learned to pray, "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory."
I learned to cry out, "May those who fear You see me and be glad, because I wait for Your word."
I learned that God wounds so that He might heal.
I learned that His mercies are new every morning.
I learned that "when my anxious thoughts multiply within me, [His] consolations delight my soul."
I learned that even though my heart and my flesh fail all too often, "God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
I learned that when my heart was heavy, I could find relief in His presence.
I learned that in quietness and trust was my strength.
I learned to open my arms and embrace the dryness and grittiness of the season. I even learned to thank God for the valley. And gradually I got comfortable in that place and began to put down some roots there, thinking it'd be awhile before I left. But it wasn't. Because God had another lesson to teach me: the dry season doesn't last forever.
Given enough time, human beings can get used to just about anything - including the dry season. So when I began to sense that God was leading me out of the valley, I balked. Why? Because even the rainy season has its dangers. In Africa, the rainy season brings new growth and beauty to the land - but it also marks the rise of malaria, because the mosquitoes that carry the disease thrive in the dampness and heat. In the rainy season that was approaching me, the danger lay in my own apathy, my tendency to be content with a lukewarm relationship with Jesus.
The dry season had ensured that I was always uncomfortable enough to need Him. "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician," Jesus said, "but those who are sick." In the dry season, I had an acute awareness of my own sickness and sinfulness. I was afraid that in the rainy season, I might trick myself into thinking that I was healthy and had no need for the Savior who had given up so much for me.
My heart said, It's better to stay where it's familiar, rather than venture out into new territory. Jesus said, "Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me."
God used the words of Katie Davis Majors (who wrote about her own experiences with the dry/rainy seasons) to encourage my stubborn heart to rejoice in the new season:
I feel a nervousness, maybe even a fear, in stepping into a season like the one I sense He is promising me. I have grown used to the dry season. I have known Jesus here in this long, hard place, and rainy season now seems foreign. But I can feel Him assuring me that He will be known here too . . . . It was time to come out of the hidden place and sing and embrace all that He was giving, the blessing He was pouring out. And He knew that my voice might come out crackly and tired at first, out of practice. But He would hear beauty in my song of praise in this new and glorious season.
(Katie Davis Majors, Daring to Hope.)So here I am, already a few steps into a new year, a new season.
What is my purpose in this new place of quiet rest?
I wasn't sure until a few days ago, when suddenly I realized that the dry season can be likened to a battle while the rainy season can be compared to the time of peace that follows. For a moment - just a moment! - I have stepped out of the heat of the battle and have been pulled behind the lines so that I can rest and train and learn all over again how to handle the weapons God has given me. And then back into the heat of the battle I will go.
If you are in the midst of a dry season, take courage! The night is long, but the dawn is coming. Rejoice, though you are weary, for God is your strength and your portion.
And if you have entered the rainy season, use your time wisely! Draw near to God and allow Him to refresh you. The battle is waiting, and you must be ready.
