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AbideinHim
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 Dry Spells - The Path to Victory

Dry Spells - The Path to Victory
By David Wilkerson


September 24, 2007



There is a unique experience common to every follower of
Jesus. I'm talking about the tremendous spiritual letdown
that follows a mountaintop experience of blessing or
victory. We call these experiences "dry spells." They seem
like a deep plunge into spiritual darkness, an immersion in
great testings, after we have experienced a special touch
of God.

My father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all
preachers, and they testified of having this experience in
their own lives. So did the missionaries and evangelists
who visited our home. I remember all of them warning,
"Watch out. After a great victory, the enemy is always
there to try to bring you down. He wants to take away your
blessing, to cripple your faith in the Lord."

We find dry spells plaguing the lives of godly men and
women throughout the Bible. It is a common experience
particularly for those who walk closely with the Lord.

* Consider Elijah.

This bold prophet led an amazing life of faith. In a single
day, God manifested his power in Elijah in incredible ways.
At Mount Carmel, the prophet called down fire from heaven
that consumed his sacrifice along with twelve barrels of
water. Elijah then wiped out 400 priests of Baal. As the
people beheld this amazing scene, they fell down on their
faces in worship.

We also see Elijah doing other incredible works. He prayed
down rain to end a drought, and he outran King Ahab's
chariot over many miles.

Talk about a glorious manifestation of God's power. These
were incredible victories, marvelous answers to the prayers
of a godly man. Elijah was experiencing supernatural
strength, the very power of the Holy Spirit. He was
bursting with zeal and faith, walking on an elevated
spiritual plane.

So, what followed for Elijah? In the very hour of his
blessing and revelation, this mighty prophet plunged deep
into despair. Why? Ahab's wife, Queen Jezebel, had
threatened to kill him. Suddenly, in a day's time, Elijah
descended from glorious victory to utter despair. A
dryness overcame him, and his spirit got so low he wanted
to die.

Elijah ended up running from God in fear. He couldn't shake
his despair, so he hid out in a cave, crying, "Lord, I have
failed in my mission. What purpose is there to my life?" He
experienced a dry spell.

* Consider Israel at the Red Sea.

Here is one of the greatest manifestations of God in all of
world history. No event recorded by humankind has ever
matched this one as a picture of God's glory. Try to
imagine it: towering walls of water grew higher by the
minute, dividing a sea in two. What an incredible miracle
for any man, woman or child to witness.

The Israelites crossed over on dry land to the other side.
Once they were safely there, they turned back to see their
Egyptian oppressors crushed by the towering waves crashing
down on them. God had miraculously delivered his people to
victory, and now they danced with joy and shouted with
praise. What a spiritual high it was for them.

So, what followed for Israel? Three days after their
incredible victory, they were utterly discouraged. They
thirsted for water in the wilderness, and the pool at Marah
where God had led them was bitter. As the people spat the
water out of their mouths, their faith was shattered. In
just three days' time, they had gone from the greatest
mountaintop victory of all time to the lowest valley of
despair - a dry spell.

What was going on? At the Red Sea, and at the pool at
Marah, God was proving his people: "And there he proved
them" (Exodus 15:25). Simply put, God was with his people
in their spiritual high, yet he was also with them just as
much in their low time.

* Consider David.

God told this man, "I am going to establish your kingdom as
everlasting." "Thine house and thy kingdom shall be
established forever before thee" (2 Samuel 7:16).

When the Lord spoke this word to his servant, he was
referring to David's seed, or lineage. Of course, God was
speaking also of the Messiah to come. No man could have
been blessed more than David was by this promise.

After the incredible revelation, David went from one
mountaintop experience to another. Scripture repeatedly
says of his life, "And after this, David...", recording
victory upon victory, blessing upon blessing. With awesome
anointing, David subdued enemy after enemy and recovered
Israel's borders, strengthening the kingdom. He was
enjoying blessings on all sides, and as he worshiped in the
temple he asked the Lord, "Who am I to be so blessed by
you?"

So, what followed for this great servant of God? It was at
the height of his most victorious, blessed time - when
David was so close to the Lord, hearing him speak in such
clarity, being fruitful, seeing wonderful promises
fulfilled - that he fell into a pit of awful temptation.

What followed was the most vicious dry spell David would
ever experience. We have read his confession about the
spiritual drought that came after his fall. David cried,
"My soul is cast down, my bones ache, all joy has departed.
I was so blessed, but now I am lonely and down. I can't
understand it. Oh, God, where are you?"

* Consider Daniel.


This man set his heart to seek God by faithfully
interceding, fasting and studying the Scriptures. The
Spirit of God so possessed Daniel that he received
incredible visions from heaven. And as these great
revelations came, Daniel delivered powerful prophecies.

What followed for such a godly man? Daniel was persecuted,
jailed and cast into the lions' den. He testified that he
was so overwhelmed "there remained no strength in me"
(Daniel 10:8). He too endured a dry spell.

* Consider the apostle Paul.

Paul was taken into what he calls "the third heaven," a
realm where he witnessed unspeakable glories. He was given
revelations never before seen or heard by any man or woman.
Simply put, Paul had stepped onto another plane, where he
glimpsed something of God's glory.

What followed for Paul? As he came out of that heavenly
realm, he faced "a messenger of Satan," which buffeted him.
Paul speaks of being hindered at that time by a thorn in
his flesh. Indeed, Paul entered immediately into a time of
spiritual warfare. His writings show him being imprisoned,
abandoned by close friends, experiencing one trial after
another. Paul well knew about dry spells.

* Consider Jesus.

As Christ came up out of the waters of baptism at the
Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended on him as a dove. And a
voice thundered from heaven, validating him as "my Son."

What followed immediately for Jesus? He was led straight
into the desert, where there was no food or water. Jesus
was tempted there in all ways by Satan. Like others, Christ
went directly from revelation to temptation, from an
experience of closeness with his Father to a literal dry
place.

Let me tell you about a
personal experience.

In 1974, I was at a convention in Dallas where I spoke on
"the sufferings of Christ." In the middle of my message,
the Holy Spirit came upon me and I began to exalt the Lord.
As I raised my hands to heaven, I was moved to speak only
these three words: "Glory, honor, praise."

In an instant, I was swept up in a river of praise to the
Lord. I was caught up in the Spirit, as though I were being
lifted out of the auditorium. Suddenly, my praises were
joined with those of angels and heavenly hosts. I felt as
if I were but one voice in heaven's choir.

I collapsed on the podium while the audience sat still.
There was light all around me, and it grew increasingly
brighter. I seemed to be in some kind of heavenly
atmosphere. In that moment, the presence of Jesus was all
in all. I had no desire to meet Moses or Abraham, or even
loved ones who had gone on before. I had no concern for
streets of gold or mansions. The question "Will we know
each other in heaven?" didn't even apply. None of those
things mattered. The glory of God's presence was completely
overpowering. I began to realize how little we know about
the glory of Christ.

I knew that what I was experiencing was not a result of my
holiness. On the contrary, I had failed the Lord often. The
fact is, I was in a realm of high praises to him. I realize
now this was God's answer to my soul's cry, my hunger for
him, my prayers for a greater revelation of Christ. I was
being given a vision of how our praises here on earth
blend in with praises of heaven's hosts.

Finally, I awoke from the experience and sat up. My wife,
Gwen, who was on the podium with me, was relieved. It was a
while before I could speak.

In the wake of that experience, I thought, "I have had a
glimpse of his glory! This is the greatest single
revelation in my life. My flesh is defeated. I'll never
again go down into a valley of despair. From now on, I will
pray like Elijah. The flesh cannot hold me. Revelation
after revelation is going to flow. I know I'm never going
to lose this glow."

Less than a week after that, I entered into the driest
period of my life. Over the next six weeks, I seemed to go
from the heavenlies to agonizing emptiness. I had thought
tremendous growth would follow my experience, that my
hunger for truth would grow and I would have
ever-increasing joy and peace. Instead, the heavens seemed
shut to me.

God was not hiding from me,
because he promises never
to leave us or forsake us.

One pastor told me my dry spell was God's way of showing me
that emotional experiences have no value. I knew that
wasn't the case for me. Nobody could take away the deep
experience of high praises the Lord had given to me.

Over time, I became convinced that I was sharing an
experience so many other believers have known: spiritual
dryness and testing after fresh revelation.

I think of T. Austin-Sparks, a pious English preacher and
one of my favorite writers, who is now with the Lord.
People who read of Austin-Sparks's revelations sold their
homes and moved to London just to sit under his preaching.
He was considered such a godly man that even Watchman Nee
trained under him.

An American woman who also studied with Austin-Sparks
wrote of his confessions to his students about his dry
spells. He said that every revelation in his life was
followed by a satanic attack on his physical body. He
suffered terrible gastritis, stomach pains, sleepless
nights, and endured extreme loneliness. In short, this man
paid a price for every fresh touch and revelation he
received of the glory of Christ.

In his book His Great Love Austin-Sparks writes on this
very subject. He says (in my close paraphrase): "After
wonderful truths are shown to us, it is a painful thing to
learn we have not reached the summit....

"In order to go on to further stages of truth to further
revelation, something has to happen to us. We go through
new experiences of death, desolation, emptiness,
hopelessness, in order to come into something further on
and deeper in divine revelation. We thought we had come
into the fullness of God's thoughts. We thought we were
really growing, seeing. Then everything is as though it is
nothing....

"My experience is that it is through such a history with
God - a history of repeated desolation and emptiness, after
wonderful unveilings and revelations - you are brought up
out of that dry place again into something further on,
greater revelations. And your vision is enlarged...."

There were times during my ministry when I was privileged
to partner with great men of God, such as Leonard
Ravenhill, who wrote Why Revival Tarries. At times these
men would share with me their deep experiences in their dry
spells. Inside, I recoiled; in my youthful zeal I thought,
"This should not be. This man is a giant in the faith.
Lord, where is he falling short, that he has come to such a
wilderness?"

I did not understand the deep, awesome work of the Spirit
that God does on dry ground.

Consider the example of
the apostle Peter.

Jesus had just been crucified and buried when Peter and the
disciples decided to meet. They convened behind a locked
door, fearing for their lives, when they heard these
exciting words: "He is alive!"

Suddenly, Jesus walked through the locked door in his
resurrected body. He told them, "Fear not. It is I, your
Lord."

Now, tell me: if you had been in the room that day,
wouldn't you say this was the most incredible sight you
could ever witness? Think of it: you see with your very own
eyes the risen Christ, shortly before he ascends to his
heavenly throne. You are allowed to touch him, embrace him,
sit down to eat with him.

Before he leaves, Jesus commands you to go into all the
world, preaching and baptizing, casting out devils and
healing the sick. And he promises his presence will never
leave you: "I will go with you to the ends of the world."

I tell you, any believer in that room would consider this
the greatest revelation, the most glorious moment, anyone
could ever experience on earth. Anyone would leave that
room thinking, "I'm going to have a miracle ministry. Jesus
said so. He's going to use me as I never could have
imagined."

Tell me, wouldn't that experience build up in you a
reservoir of faith? Wouldn't you be convinced that you
could never doubt again?

Yet, what followed this greatest of all spiritual highs?
"Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing" (John 21:3). Six of
the disciples followed Peter to the lake, in effect
returning to their former lives as fishermen. Why? What had
happened to the great ministry that Jesus called them to?

These men had fallen into deep sorrow. It was something
Jesus had forewarned them about: "In a little while, and ye
shall not see me...and ye shall be sorrowful" (16:19-20).
Christ knew these devoted followers would experience a very
low period. They were going to be overwhelmed by his
physical absence in their lives. There would be no more
face-to-face communion with him. Though he had promised he
would be with them, it seemed he was leaving them to make
it on their own.

Austin-Sparks writes, "There are times the Lord lets us
feel that we are left alone, when he seems to close the
heavens and there is no to-and-fro communication.
Everything we had looked for and expected seems to have
come to an end, to have broken down. All seems to be in
ruins" (my close paraphrase).

Have you experienced
dry spells like these?

I have offered examples of the highs and lows of major
figures from the Bible. I have described one of my own dry
experiences and those of T. Austin-Sparks. I ask you, what
experience have you had with extreme lows after spiritual
highs?

I remind you, the dry spell - the low period in your spirit
‹ is known mostly to those whom God intends to use. Indeed,
it is common to everyone he trains to go deeper and further
in his ways.

As you look back on your own dry experience, ask yourself:
did such a period follow a renewal of the Spirit in your
life? Maybe you experienced a fresh awakening. You went
back to earnest prayer, asking the Lord:

"Touch me, Jesus. I feel lukewarm. I know my service to you
isn't moving forward as it should. I'm hungry to have more
of you than I have ever known. And I want zeal to do your
works: to pray for the sick, save the lost, bring hope to
the hopeless. Renew me, Lord. I want to be used for your
kingdom in greater measure."

Because you got serious with God, your prayers began to get
answers. You started to hear God's voice clearly. Intimacy
with him was wonderful, your zeal was increasing, and you
sensed his movement in your life so clearly.

Then one day, you woke up and the heavens seemed as brass.
You were cast down and didn't know why. Prayer seemed like
agony, and you didn't hear God's voice as you once did.
Your feelings seemed dead, your spirit dry and empty. Ever
since then, you have had to live only by faith.

Beloved, do not panic! And don't beat yourself up. I know
this kind of plunge personally, from the mountaintop to the
lowest pit. Peter speaks of it specifically, advising us
not to think some strange thing is happening to us: "Think
it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try
you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But
rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's
sufferings" (1 Peter 4:12-13).

I pray the Holy Spirit will
help us understand why God
allows these low, dry times.

The Lord allows our dry spells because he is after
something in our lives.

When I woke to dryness one day, after that great
mountaintop experience in Dallas, I became introspective. I
tried to retrace my steps to see where I might have
possibly derailed. As I examined my heart, I ended up
blaming myself for having a hard head, thinking I was
unable to "get" the deep things of God.

Recently, I found some notes from a record I kept of that
dry spell. The following entries are from a period in 1979:

"Is my dry spell a result of depending too much on my
feelings? Is it a result of not being yielded enough? Is
the Lord angry with me?... I know this is more than just
Œhaving the blues.' I never doubt his love for me. But why
do I have this sense of not hearing his voice?... Somehow,
Lord, I know you will bring me out of this dryness. I know
you will fulfill the promises you made to me. You'll turn
my dryness into a river of love."

The truth is, if you are on
dry ground, you are on your
way to greater miracles.

God insists there must be "dry ground" on our way through
the Red Sea. He told Israel, "(You) shall go on dry ground
through the midst of the sea" (Exodus 14:16, my italics).
Amazingly, God uses this phrase four times, telling his
people, "You will go over on dry ground."

We see this phrase again when Israel was poised to enter
Canaan. They crossed over Jordan on dry ground, on their
way into the Promised Land.

Simply put, dry ground is a path. And if you're on it, then
you are going somewhere. You're not losing ground or going
backward; your dry ground is the Lord's plan, his work in
your life, his miracles to perform. You are moving toward a
revelation, a new victory in Christ, toward something
greater.

Scripture proves this. Note where Pharaoh and his army lost
their battle: on God-given dry ground. Dry ground is the
exact place where the devil will come after you. He wants
to attack you when you're at your weakest. Yet, it is on
this same dry ground that the Lord removes the "chariot
wheels" from Satan's principalities and powers:

"The waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the
horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the
sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them"
(Exodus 14:28). Simply put, our enemy is defeated on dry
ground.

God is telling us, in essence: "I want you to learn to move
on in faith - not according to a vision or a voice, but
when you're in the midst of a dry spell. I want you to be
confident that when you can't hear my voice or see ahead ‹
when you are on dry ground - I am leading you somewhere."

Moreover, the Lord promises that out of our dry places, new
life will spring up. He will turn our dry ground into
springs of fresh water:

"When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and
their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them,
I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open
rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the
valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and
the dry land springs of water.

"I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah
tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the
desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree
together: that they may see, and know, and consider, and
understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done
this, and the Holy One of Israel created it" (Isaiah
41:17-20, my italics).

Dear saint, are you dry? God is telling you, "Soon you will
see a harvest. Where there once was dry ground, life will
spring up at your feet. And I have created it! Stand still,
and see what I will do for you on dry ground."


_________________
Mike

 2009/12/31 11:11Profile
narrowpath
Member



Joined: 2005/1/9
Posts: 1522
Germany NRW

 Re: Dry Spells - The Path to Victory

Thank you for your timely post, it ministers to me.

 2009/12/31 12:42Profile
Anastasis
Member



Joined: 2009/7/1
Posts: 75


 Re: Dry Spells - The Path to Victory

This was needed. Thank you much!

 2009/12/31 13:22Profile





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