Dry Seasons
We love easy answers, and we love to explain away our problems as "seasons". But we cross the line into dangerous territory when we lump God into that easy answer. When we start to believe that God withdraws from us for a season, or that He is less affectionate or less kind in some seasons than others, we're believing a lie. The truth is, He never changes. Nothing about Him changes - not His character, not His countenance towards you, not the way His eyes shine when He looks at you. The reason we believe that God changes with the seasons, is that it often appears that He does. He doesn't do the same thing all the time. Holy Spirit doesn't look the same this night in this room as He did that night in the other room. The way I hear God's "voice" isn't the same way my friend hears it. Or the same way I heard it 5 years ago. How can both of these things be true - that God never changes, but He's always changing? To answer that, we need to look to Jesus.
How did Jesus heal people in the Bible? There isn't really an answer to that, because the "how" was different every time. It changed in every situation and season. One time it's a mix of mud and spit, the next time it's simply a touch and a word. But the fact is, He healed every single person that came to Him - that never changes. How does God look different throughout your life? What's changed between now and a year ago for you? And here's a hint: if nothing has changed in your relationship with God in a year, you're overdue.
This needs to be applied to our walk with God. It seems so hard to take a truth like this and walk it out, but this is where God wants to take us. It's a greater level of faith - to know that His character never changes, and then to live like you know it. When you hit a point where you're suddenly not hearing God the way you used to, it's because He wants to speak to you in a new way. When you don't feel His presence as strongly during worship/prayer/bible study, it's because He wants to meet you in a new place. When you feel like He's not answering your question, it's because He wants you to ask a better question.
If you find yourself in a dry season, ask God to remind you of who He is. Study His character, meditate on His love. Let Him out of the box and let Him speak to you in a new way. If you normally swim in doubt the moment God seems to disappear, if you question His love when your circumstances disagree, He's calling you to a stronger faith today. He's inviting you up to a higher level of thinking, a clearer mind, and insight into who He truly is. God doesn't change, and it's safe to say that on your best day, your best thoughts about Him are only 10% of the truth of who He is. So allow Him to do a new thing in you. Allow Him to whisper a better question, to show you a new thing, to take you to a new place. There is no more dry seasons for those who have the risen Christ living in them.
