Every believer has seasons of dryness in their walk with Christ now and again. But what if you are doing all the “right things” – yet you know you are not living the (spiritually) abundant life God promises to His children?
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted… The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” says Psalm 46:10-11. “He changes a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry land into springs of water” says Psalm 107:35. Psalm 91:2 says, “I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” And “In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, And his children will have refuge” says Proverbs 14:26.
Our is Lord omnipotent; He is unchanging, immovable. Our God is our refuge, our mighty fortress. He will change your wilderness, the dry land of your heart into springs of life… all in due time. Fear the Lord (revere with awe and amazement) and trust His goodness, faithfulness, and sovereignty. As R.C. Sproul once put it, “To be in the presence of God is to be keenly aware of His sovereignty”. In those dry seasons, patiently stay in His Word, go deeper into The Gospel and in prayer and eventually your heart fully rests because His grace is sufficient (see 2 Cor. 12:9).
Many Christians say “God wants you to be happy” which is a sweet sentiment. But as a result of bad teaching or their own forgetfulness, they fail to add this: God wants you to be happy, and the source of that happiness ought to be in Him first and foremost. It’s all about eternal perspective. God is the only one worthy of that kind of adulation simply because He is Holy. That encompasses all the qualities a perfect, Holy, divine, magnificent God embodies – love, justice, wisdom, goodness, and all the rest. He is also the benefactor of eternal happiness and satisfaction to us who call Him Lord.
Although I do not align with the continuationist teachings of John Piper, I do agree with the majority of what he preaches. In 2012, he wrote a beautiful article. As Piper puts it in his article, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him… his glory shines in your happiness, when your happiness is in him. And since God is the source of greatest happiness, and since he is the greatest treasure in the world, and since his glory is the most satisfying gift he could possibly give us, therefore it is the kindest, most loving thing he could possibly do — to reveal himself, and magnify himself and vindicate himself for our everlasting enjoyment. “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). God is the one being for whom self-exaltation is the most loving act, because he is exalting for us what alone can satisfy us fully and forever. If we exalt ourselves, we are not loving because we distract people from the one person who can make them happy forever, God. But if God exalts himself, he draws attention to the one person who can make us happy forever, himself. He is not an egomaniac. He is an infinitely glorious, all-satisfying God, offering us everlasting and supreme joy in himself.” Amen to that.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What are some ways you can remember God’s sovereignty, a mighty fortress that you can put your trust in?
- Take inventory of your heart — how keenly aware are you of God’s sovereignty?
Prayer:
Dear God, how amazed I am of your sovereignty and your Holiness. Thank you for being my refuge that I can trust in all my days. If there is anything in me that causes my heart to lose sight of that, have mercy on me, and wash me of that iniquity. Fill my heart with your Living Water, Jesus; help me to stay in your Word so that my heart may be cleansed and purified each day, especially in my seasons of spiritual dryness. In Jesus’s name, amen.