Spirit Saturation for Dry Seasons

Seasons come and go. Some seasons are so lovely they could be encapsulated in a memoir book and other seasons, well, we are grateful to bid farewell to. Some seasons are marked with abundance and others are dry and gritty.

If you’ve found yourself moving from last year into this year carrying the same burdens, striving to hear the Lord’s voice, or in a spin of confusion, perhaps you are in a dry season. But, be encouraged, there is a way through.

Recently, I came upon a hidden gem of a story in 2 Kings 3. The setting is encircled in dry proportions. A literal desert. Hot. Irritating. And a conflict to boot.  Grab your Bible to read this great story and unpack the depths of its treasure with me. 

Read 2 Kings 3:1-27

Summary:

In 2 Kings 3, Joram, the new king of Israel, links arms and vigilant efforts with the king of Edom and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, in an attempt to fight the Moabites. After seven days in the desert of Edom, they are out of water and desperate. Jehoshaphat calls for the prophet Elisha. At first Elisha wasn’t keen on helping them. Then he concedes. The prophet asks for someone to play worship music, and then the power of God descends upon him. Elisha instructs the kings and armies to dig ditches in the valley. What happens next is miraculous. Without rain and without wind, every ditch fills with water overnight, and the armies quench their thirst. 

All of us have been in seasons of personal drought or dry spells in our walk with the Lord. Sometimes you just want to quit walking and find a place to sit. But the best scenario is keep moving until you find water again. Until you flow in His Spirit again.

How do we get out of these dry seasons and into an overflow of the Spirit?

The Word

Seek the Word of the Lord. Here in the Old Testament, they would seek out the prophet for a word. Elisha was summoned. He speaks of the OVERFLOW to come. Not just water for them but their livestock too. It was a promise. The armies were relying on a man to speak, but you and I have THE Word! When is the last time you read through some promises of the Lord or reread a prophetic word that was spoken over your life? God always fulfills His promises!

Worship

Worship changes the position of our heart, our mindset, and our attitude. It’s the remedy for complacency. It’s a weapon against the enemy. In verse 15 Elisha called in for someone to play the harp for him. Now, I don’t know if you have anyone who can come over to your house on a moment’s notice and bring their harp for a worship set, but just turn on your Spotify playlist or old cd and start praising! It was when Elisha’s heart, mind, and spirit were focused on the Lord he could hear what the Lord would say! Turn off the noise, turn up the worship and wait for the Lord to speak!

Work and Sacrifice

Verse 16 instructed the men to dig ditches or holes. This was preparing a place for the water to come. It takes effort on our part to prepare our hearts to receive the overflow. Then there’s more. Check out verse 20; “The next morning, about the time for offering the sacrifice, there it was—water flowing from the direction of Edom! And the land was filled with water.” Once the sacrifice was made, the work was done, and the water came! In order to get out of a dry place it often takes a sacrifice. More times than not we have to remove, give up or surrender something that is plugging up the flow of the Spirit in our life! Get the gunk out and unclog the drain!! Once we allow the Lord to identify what needs to be plunged from our life, then the Lord can work to remove it. And just remember God doesn’t change. We are a fickle people. We are the ones who move away from the constant stream of His goodness. Jeremiah 2:13 says “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Are you allowing other things to flow into your life?  What sediment has settled in the basins of your heart prohibiting a move of His Spirit?  Are you willing to roll up your sleeves, come to Jesus and get back on track? The best part is under His new covenant the work is easy and light and His grace is sufficient.

Overflow

Verse 20 continues to say that suddenly there was water!  That’s no coincidence to my brain. Verse 17 boasted the prophecy that the Israelites wouldn’t see wind or rain but that there would be water. That’s just like the Holy Spirit! Out of nowhere here comes an abundance of His MORE!

I’ll let you read the last 7 verses of this story/passage of the battle. It was yucky. There was victory but with a price. See when we lose focus and get off track and find ourselves in a dry season, there can be clean-up work after, but God is with us to help us prevail.

To encourage your heart in your dry season, just remember, it was prophesied of Jesus that he would grow from a stump. Isaiah 11:1 “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips, he will slay the wicked.”

What appeared dead and done still had life. If Jesus can grow from a cut-down tree stump, then you can flow out of dry seasons! Seek the Spirit and the abundance that awaits! Get saturated and flow with the Lord.