What To Do When You Feel Spiritually Dry

All right. Hey, why don't you stand with me? Pastor Josh, I don't want to stand. I'm going to stand for the next 30 minutes. I just need 30 seconds out of you. This last week, we had students at middle school camp. This next week, we'll have students at high school camp. And the following week, we'll have kids at kids camp. And I want to pray for all the next generation that this is a transformative month in the lives of students and kids in our church. Amen? Amen. Let's pray together. Let's believe God together. Agree with me. Where two or three are gathered, where two or three agree, God answers. So, Father, we ask in Jesus' name that for every student and kid that goes to camp, and even those that don't go, Lord, that this would be a transformative month, that students' hearts would be postured even now to receive from you, that they would come home and make a difference in their families and in their schools and their community. Lord, that what happens at camp wouldn't stay at camp. Lord, but it would create a ripple effect across our church. And we know that many times the faith of our kids and the faith of our students exceeds even the faith of the adults. And we're okay with their faith leading us,

as they just believe for all that you have for their lives. I pray your protection over the camp. I pray your protection over every student and kiddo. And, Lord, I ask that every leader, every pastor, would be refreshed even through a time that it can be draining and that, Lord, the touch of your Holy Spirit on the lives of the next generation in our church would be remarkable and that we would look back even years from now and kids would tell the stories of what you did this month in their lives. We ask it in the name of Jesus. If you agree, say amen. If you don't agree, say amen. All right, all right, go ahead, sit down. So glad that you're here today. I wanna jump right in to a message. Whoa, just, there we go. All right, I wanna jump right into a message today called What to Do When You Feel Spiritually Dry. I'm gonna jump into three different passages of scripture today. We're gonna be in First Kings, Exodus, and Hebrews. So if you have a paper Bible, use three fingers to hold your spot. And we're gonna jump into each one of those. In First Kings 19, many are familiar with the story of Elijah. Elijah was a prophet to Israel. Israel was directed and led by kings and queens, some wicked, some innocent before the Lord,

and there was prophets that would speak to the heart of the nation and correct its course. And during the time of Elijah, he is being God's voice and God's man to a nation at a time when there's an evil king and an evil queen named Ahab and Jezebel that are leading the nation of Israel. Elijah has a powerful day. He stands before God and all the prophets of the false god Baal, and he asks God to rain down fire from heaven, and God answers. He follows that up by saying, God, let rain fall on this drought-ridden land that hasn't seen rain in multiple years, and God answers. And on the heels of God answering, Jezebel threatens Elijah's life. He runs off, he sits down under a tree, and he wants to quit, maybe out of fear, maybe because of Jezebel's opposition, or maybe because God's people had seen the fire of God and rain come from God and still didn't trust him. We should just be aware that we can be in such a place in our own hearts that God could send fire from heaven and rain in a drought, and we still not look to him. This is what happens to the people of Israel. Here's Elijah's moment when he sits down under the tree, he wants to give up, and God meets him there.

The Bible says the angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched Elijah and said, get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you. So he got up and he ate and drank, and he was strengthened by that food. He traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night, and the word of the Lord came to him and said, what are you doing here, Elijah? It was just about 500 years before that that a man named Moses was wandering in the wilderness as well. Moses had been royalty in Egypt, adopted into the royal family. He ends up defending an Israelite and murders an Egyptian who is abusing that Israelite, and he runs off into the wilderness where he also travels around now as a shepherd maintaining his father-in-law's sheep. He's in a similar kind of wilderness to where he is now. Elijah was and here's what the Bible says about what happens to Moses It says now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law the priest of Midian And he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and he came to Horeb the mountain of God There the angel the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire From within a bush and Moses saw that though the bush was on fire. It did not burn up So Moses thought I will go over and see this strange sight why the bush does not burn up When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look God called to him from within the bush and said Moses Moses and Moses said here

I am it's these two heroes of the faith in the wilderness in a Existential crisis in their lives wondering who am I has anything I've done on this journey mattered Does God still hear me does God still want to work through me? That Moses and Elijah both come to Horeb to the mountain of God Moses and Elijah had both seen God's faithfulness in the past. They had seen God do powerful things in their lives They'd seen God's provision in their lives and somehow in some way there led to despair There led to a wilderness type season in their lives. Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was opposition Maybe it was discouragement about what was in the hearts of the people around them I was trying to think of Moments in my life where there's been a desert like this where there's been a moment where maybe if you're a follower of Jesus you would say it's a spiritually dry season or something of that sort and I I kept coming back to this moment that I've told many of you about but after I had finished college and I was Yeah an intern at a church and all my friends had gone into different fields of study and careers and were getting married and I Moved into a really dingy apartment In an area of town that I shouldn't have lived in even my college pastor was like Josh I don't think you should live here and All that to say the wilderness that I was feeling in my own heart of like where am I going with my life was showing Up as a wilderness in my finances a wilderness and my choices a wilderness and my friends it was like you could just tell I was floundering and Thankfully good people spoken in my life But it was a moment that I had where I remember specifically one night laying in bed had the window open I could hear things going out on outside and I just had an honest conversation with the Lord God is big enough to hold your honest conversations and I I said God I've served you faithfully my whole life since I was four years old and I can hear a whole bunch of people out there who don't know you don't honor you don't want to serve you and they're having

A way better time than I am What gives maybe the question that comes up in the wilderness season is God, where are you have you been there? God where are you? Really when you kind of step back It's kind of silly. I Mean just the pride of God I've served you my whole 22 years of life To the infinite uncreated one right who sees the end from the beginning and everything in the middle But that's kind of the human experiment doesn't it that experience that that in we lose perspective We can lose sight of maybe what God is doing in our lives or even Forget what God had done in our lives both Moses and Elijah had seen God do things in their life often a spiritually dry season is compared in the Bible to a wilderness a Wilderness is harsh in a season where your life feels confusing can be harsh a wilderness is barren it's like there's nothing happening a Wilderness can be an unforgiving desert a place that has little to no life in it a wilderness can feel quiet It can feel lonely it comes with thoughts of I know other people have gone through what I'm going through and worse than what I'm going through but I don't know how to get through what I'm going through and What I'm going through just feels all consuming and all Encompassing and it's in the wilderness that we just we decide how we're gonna respond to God the Israelites often in the wilderness chose to complain and grumble at God or at their leader that was their response and every one of us has to choose the response of our own hearts when we find ourselves in a moment where things feel lonely and quiet and without direction or harsh or barren or unforgiving Yet it's ironic that in that place of Despondency for the Israelites was also where they saw God's greatest provision That out of a rock God brought water

That out of nothing God rains down manna bread from heaven for them to eat. That it's actually in that place of, is there anything out there for me that God shows up in the most clear and awesome ways? I don't know if you noticed, but the title of the message is, what do you do when you feel spiritually dry, not if? Because it is a when. And the question is, how will you respond? I actually, somebody said this to me as I was growing up, and I do think that it's true. That if we live a complacent life, don't really take steps of faith, aren't in obedience to Jesus, life can be comfortable. But if you decide, I'm gonna follow Jesus, I'm gonna take steps of faith, life gets uncomfortable. Because it requires faith, because there is an enemy of your soul who the minute he sees you take that step is going to bring a temptation across the path, is going to bring a challenge, is going to bring something that causes you to lose perspective across your path. So the question is, how do you respond? And I feel like most of us in these moments, the first question is, why? Why am I in this place? God's like, what are you doing here, Elijah? And Elijah's like, I don't know.

Have you noticed, omniscient, all knowing God, what's going on around here? Have you noticed what's been happening? Many times we ask why, why am I in this place? Why am I feeling this way? Why is this happening? Why do I feel like I can't hear God's voice? Why can't I sense God's presence? Why aren't my feelings and emotions there when the worship music starts like it used to be? What is this dryness? Why do I open my Bible and I feel like I've read it all before and the pastor preaches and I've heard it all before and I just feel like there's nothing in me that, come on, am I alone? Why do I just feel dry? Sometimes it's a question of what, like what led me here? Did I do something wrong? Is God angry? Did I miss the mark? Am I being disobedient? Maybe you're here today and you've experienced a moment like this or maybe you're here today and you're in a moment like this and you're wondering what led you to this place. Here's a few reasons why people end up in spiritually dry seasons. One of them is because of fear or opposition. Or because we see what's in the hearts of other people

and sometimes what's in the hearts of other people is really discouraging. And I'll just tell you an honest truth. I have Facebook and I have a page and I have a profile. And on my page, I only see pages that I follow. On my profile, I see everybody that I know. And after being away from my profile, I realized and just looking at my page and the people like that I choose to follow, I realized how discouraging my profile is because of the things people share. And it wasn't until I kind of logged off from it that I realized the anxiety it produced in my heart. Like we all are reading each other's thoughts all the time and I don't know that it's good for our soul. So I think we're gonna just do a whole series on that this fall. Like your algorithm is discipling you. I can't do it, can't do it right now. But maybe you're here and you decided to follow Jesus or you got baptized or you joined a connect group or you had a transformative moment with the Lord and you thought, finally, I've met Jesus. Like I'm gonna be free, life is gonna get better and wham, you got hit or life actually got harder because you felt the opposition in a way that you hadn't felt it before. You felt like the spiritual warfare that was happening. And I'm not saying there's a devil under every rock, but the enemy does work against God's will

and work in our lives. And maybe you felt that increase of opposition and that's led you to a desert. It's led you to wanna take a step back and actually flee back into the wilderness where it was easier. For others, they experience a desert or a spiritual dryness because there come moments in our lives where we think, I don't feel like I can hear God anymore. Or is God still speaking? And honestly, what's going on is sometimes we get used to hearing God the same way and God speaking the same way and there will come a moment where if you're new to our church and you're really excited and you're like, man, the worship moves me and the message moves me, there's gonna come a phase in your life where there's gonna come a familiarity where you're gonna go, I don't know, are the messages not as good as they used to be? But there's a natural, sorry, I'm just going right in today, but there's a natural weaning off of what somebody else. gives you his revelation and spiritual milk to God saying that's not going to work anymore you got to start to eat on your own like you got to open your word and get a revelation from the Lord for yourself do we still gather as a church and do we still need biblical teaching yes but there's also like a deeper place that God calls us into that he's drawing us into in our lives and sometimes we it's like the pharisees right like no the messiah is this and he's going

to show up this way and we won't accept anything different and this is what God has always done and we get that way in our minds like no this is how God speaks to me this is what he does and God says but I'm over here saying do you perceive the new thing that I'm doing like I want to speak to you in a different and a fresh way and we take the infinite God and we put him in a box and we're discouraged when he doesn't perform like he used to when God is calling us to mature because he wants to do something new in our lives another reason I think we end up in spiritual dryness or a wilderness is because we see moments in scripture where God directly sends people into the wilderness he sends Philip into the wilderness on a mission he sends John the Baptist into the wilderness he sends Jesus into the wilderness because although the wilderness is a harsh barren and lonely place it is the transformational space between who you are and who God wants you to become it is a transformative in-between space for every person that finds themselves there it's in that space that seems void of communication and God's presence that is actually a space of life transforming encounter because it's at Horeb it's at that mountain that both Elijah and Moses hear from God the word Horeb means desert and the mountain existed in a desert wilderness so both physically a desert emotionally a desert spiritually a desert if you're not familiar with Horeb other names for Horeb in the bible are like we read mountain of God or Mount Sinai and Horeb is a place that Moses and Elijah came to and it's a place that each one of us comes to where we become keenly aware that we're not enough and in Horeb we find the God who is always enough Horeb is actually a place that God brings us to that strips away our self-reliance reveals God to us and if handled correctly recommissions us into God's greater purpose because Horeb even though it feels like a wilderness is still a place of God's presence so for you Horeb might be a situation Horeb might be horrible Horeb might be not a situation but a season and in the negative it feels like you're in a spiritual desert but in the positive it's where God whispers it's where God comes alongside and it's where God recommissions us so our kids over in eKids always have a big idea every week here's the big idea there remains for us today a stronghold of God at the mountain of God at the mountain of God that he invites the ordinary everyday average believer to come and meet with him there is a place that runs deeper than a daily bible reading plan that runs deeper than a weekly church service there is a place in a space that God invites you

to on the mountain of God that is a stronghold for us even in the midst of the desert the psalmist referred to it he found it out in the wilderness he says the Lord is my rock he is my fortress he is my deliverer my God is my rock in whom I take refuge he is my shield he is the horn of my salvation he is my stronghold not just the God that I love and that loves me he is my rock God is my fortress come on that's when that's a declaration from somebody who's going I don't know left from right I don't know where God is in the midst of my circumstance I've suffered loss I've suffered betrayal I've suffered difficulty but the Lord is my rock the Lord is my fortress there is a mountain of God there is a stronghold of God that he invites us into another psalm says this way the Lord will keep you from all harm he will watch over my life the Lord will watch over my coming and my going both now and forevermore see wilderness experiences in our lives when leaned into and seen as an opportunity often lead to personal encounters with God and Personal encounters with God transform the human soul, and a transformed human soul can be recommissioned for God's greater purpose. Are you alive? God meets us even in the wilderness. He met Jesus there, and by the word of God, Jesus overcame and he was commissioned into a public ministry. God meets us in the wilderness. See, it's that Horeb that God appears to Moses. It's that Horeb that God says, you're going to go deliver my people from Egypt. It's actually at Horeb that God gives Moses the Torah. He gives him the law. It says, teach my people how to follow me, how to serve me. It's in this desert wilderness that God speaks to Elijah, not in a mighty wind, not in fire, not in an earthquake, but in a whisper. See, we often look for God at conferences and we look for miracles and God give me a sign. We look for emotional highs. We look for God in dramatic experiences, but God is most often found alone on the mountain, in the stronghold. So I have been Jesus.

All right, those disciples. This is a good analogy for a parent. Those disciples of mine are finally asleep. I'm going to sneak away to the mountainside and cry out to God, cry out to my heavenly Father. Why? Because there is a stronghold that is available to the believer today to take refuge, to meet with God. Moses met God at Horeb. Elijah met God at Horeb. The Israelites met God at Horeb. Horeb was a real mountain and they really encountered the presence of God there. Now here's the good news. What does this mean for us, Pastor Josh? Elijah was a human being just like us and if he needed a mountain, you need a mountain. We think, oh Elijah and Moses, heroes of the faith, they did these incredible things. Our access point is better than theirs because we have a full revelation of Jesus. Elijah was a man just like us and so how does God refresh our souls? What should we do when we're spiritually dry? You ready? Some of you are like, I'm in a good place. I don't really need this message. I would write it down because you never know three months from now you're going to think, what did he say about this wilderness I'm in right now? Here's the first thought. If you're spiritually dry, get some rest. Doesn't sound spiritual, does it? But what's the first thing God does for Elijah? Elijah takes a nap. Bless God. Amen. I'm thinking about worshiping God that way this afternoon. And then he wakes up from the nap and God feeds him. So my question for you is, are you actually spiritually dry or are you just physically exhausted? Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is eat a healthy meal, take a nap, turn off your phone, and admit that the journey has been too much for you. If that's the place you're in, just do the basics. Okay, that's all I'm asking.

Just do the basics. What does the Bible say? Work six days and rest one. The Sabbath is not just an idea, it's a command. Well, I've worked seven days ever since Nixon was president. I've never had a vacation in my life. You're a great North Dakotan, but you're not a great follower of Jesus. It says work six, rest one. Rest is built into the rhythm of scripture. Detox from your phone. Put it away. Open your Bible. Take some time alone with God. Before you diagnose your entire spiritual condition as a desert or a wilderness or spiritually dry, just take care of your body. Slow down your pace and let somebody know you're struggling. Second thought. Get some rest and then turn aside and pay attention. I don't know if you caught this verse in Exodus, but it says the bush was burning and Moses was like, I don't think there's anybody else around. I'm gonna go look at this strange thing over here. And you know what the Bible, you know what it says God's response was when he saw that Moses took time to go look. Doesn't it just make you wonder who walked by and didn't look? Who just kept going with their busy life and their busy schedule and their busy calendar? Is God absent? or are we absent of attention? So Moses takes time and he goes over and he looks. I just can't help but think, what happens if we don't look? What happens if God is literally in the bush burning and we just walk on by? So this week, take 10 minutes. Turn off the music, turn off the podcast, turn off scrolling, and come to the Lord

not with a list of requests, but read a passage of Scripture. God is my refuge. He's my rock. He's my deliverer. Just read it and then go, God, what do you want to show me? I walked in, this week I did a little prayer retreat and I walked into the place where I was going to pray for the day and do some planning. And I turned on my favorite worship song and it was blasting in the room. And I started worshiping God and immediately I sensed the voice of the Holy Spirit say, no, the first hour is the quiet hour. Shut all the music off, close the computer. Got down on my knees. Josh Detweiler wasn't here to lead me in worship. I said, open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. I want to see you. There's a stronghold. There's a mountain that we've been invited to come to that is a deeper place with the Lord and a more intimate place with the Lord than you will ever get in the gathering of believers. And we shouldn't forsake one for the other. We should do both. But I sensed the Holy Spirit this week saying, invite them in to the stronghold. Invite them into this place where my presence is to turn aside and pay attention.

Once you pay attention, God will speak and then just take the next obedient step. I've often said to friends, my wife, my counselor, I'm in a forest on this decision or this season of my life. I feel like I'm in a forest surrounded by trees and I know there's a path out. I just don't know how to find it. And sometimes Janae says, babe, here's the path. Sometimes a counselor says, Josh, here's the path. Sometimes a good friend says, Josh, here's the path. And sometimes none of them know the answer. And the Lord says, let me show you the path. Sometimes getting out of a spiritual funk or a spiritual dryness is not one prayer and you're out. Elijah rested, ate, got instruction from the Lord and then journeyed 40 days. See, people often assume if they just pray once and still feel dry, nothing is working. I must be praying wrong or God must be mad. It's just not working. But the equation often isn't do this and then do that and then you'll get God to do what you want. The equation is often do the right thing and even if God doesn't answer, do the right thing. Faithfulness, even in the wilderness. Take the next obedient step. It's rarely a giant leap. It's usually a series of small, faithful steps that leads us out.

So in the midst of the wilderness, open your scripture, show up for church, sing worship songs to God on your own, receive prayer, share your burden with someone, come back to spiritual community, obey the last thing God told you to do and keep walking towards God, even if your emotions and your feelings haven't caught up yet. Just follow Him anyway, serve Him anyway. Don't let the absence of emotion become an excuse for the absence of obedience. I didn't give God my yes because I didn't feel like it. Jesus gave God his yes and I bet he didn't feel like it. Last thought, once you've done all that, let God ask you the deeper questions. Because then God looks at Elijah and he says, 40 days, all the way here to Horeb, what are you doing here, Elijah? Lord, you told me to come here. No, I'm not talking about physically what are you doing here? I'm talking about like sitting down under the tree and wanting to quit, being discouraged because of what's in the hearts of people. What are you doing here emotionally? It's not lost on God. Why Elijah is there. And it's a great question for us. What are you doing here in this place spiritually? What are you doing here emotionally?

Like what disappointment, what offense, what fear, what loss, what opposition, what unanswered prayer brought you here? Because you will never overcome what you refuse to name. So what are you doing here? See, God doesn't ask Elijah because God needs more information. God asks Elijah because Elijah needs a revelation of what's going on in himself. What are you doing here, Elijah? And perhaps today God is asking you the same question, not to condemn you, but to meet you honestly where you are. And God is big enough and gracious enough to hold all that you are and all of the questions that you bring and all of the challenge that you face. See, the wilderness is not where God has abandoned you. It's where God quiets the noise, exposes what's happening within us, reveals himself again and prepares us for what is next. It's what he does with Moses and Elijah. He reveals himself and then he initiates a new beginning. Moses, you're gonna go lead my people out. Elijah, you're gonna take everything that I put on you and you're gonna put it on another guy and he's gonna get a double portion of my power and anointing. There is a silver bullet here in the wilderness. There's not always a silver bullet, but there is today. And the silver bullet is this.

It's John 15, that mountain high, valley low, in abundance or in lack, you were made for one thing and that is to abide in the presence of Jesus.