How to Flourish During Life’s Dry Seasons

When we go through dry seasons in life, how quickly we lose faith.

We wonder if the rain will ever come.

We wonder if God has forgotten us.

We wonder why it’s raining everywhere else, except right where we are.

And we complain bitterly.

Maybe you don’t complain. Maybe that’s just me.

Maybe you begin to think you’ll be better off without the rain.

Or you start to believe the rain isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Who needs rain anyway?

Ultimately, dry seasons have a way of drying up our faith leaving us feeling empty inside. And that’s exactly what the enemy wants.

But what if it didn’t have to be that way?

What if instead of feeling parched and dry, we actually began to flourish in dry seasons?

In my little neck of the woods, we’ve been having an unseasonably dry spring. Even putting those two words together doesn’t seem to make sense.

Usually, we think of spring flowers and new green leaves. Well, thanks to a few hardy plants we have a sprinkling of flowers — (I think most of them are in my mom’s garden – I don’t know how she does it!) — but for the most part, the leaves on our trees are crisp and brown.

When I step unto my porch and look out over the hills they seem to be calling out for help. And since the trees are so sparse, I’m now seeing scattered debris from our 2017 hurricanes that I didn’t even realize was there. It’s been 2 years!

Dry seasons have a way of exposing remnants of the past we’d rather forget.

It’s the same spiritually speaking. When we go through difficult times, our faith gets tested in ways we don’t expect. Parts of our character we didn’t want to deal with before are now threatening to take us down. Struggles we didn’t even know we had have shown up at our door.

Rather than go down without a fight, I’m sharing these tips to help prepare you. These are lessons I’ve learned from my own dry seasons that I pray will help you flourish in yours.

5 Secrets to Flourishing in Dry Seasons

1. Hide God’s Word in your heart

The secret to overcoming any challenge is God’s Word. And the best way to prepare for the dry seasons ahead is to fill up on the Word.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11

2. Build on the Rock

Whether dry season or flood, we will stand strong when we build on the solid rock of Jesus.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

Matthew 7:24-27

3. Thrive in community

Trying to go it alone during a dry season is a recipe for disaster. We need others who will walk beside us on the journey and to help us find revival. Search out those who will help build you up and spur you on.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Hebrews 10:24

4. Embrace the secret of contentment

At the end of the day, it’s really not about the dry season or the wet season. The question becomes, will you be content regardless?

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Philippians 4:11-12

You see, dry seasons require us to look to the provider. The One who causes the rain to fall (or not), the sun to shine and the moon to rise.

5. Trust in God

Dry seasons also remind us that we are not as self-sufficient as we think. After all, which one of us can tell the rain when to start or stop? I sure can’t. Can you?

Recognizing that we’re dependent on God can be a very humbling feeling, but you know what? When we rely on God, the rain eventually comes. In His time. And oh, how refreshing it will be!

You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.

Psalm 68:9 NIV

How about you?

How do you cope with the dry seasons in your life? Do you flourish with or without the rain?

Wishing you blessings,

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