Communion With the Christ:: In a Dry Season

"Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live for a while because the famine was severe" Genesis:12:10

In the Book of Genesis, written by the Prophet Moses, we are told about Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and the family of Jacob leaving the land of Canaan, which had been given to them by the Lord God, to go to Egypt and to the Philistines for a time due to a very serve droughts which lead to a real scarcity of food.

"Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live for a while because the famine was sever" Gen:12:10

"Now there was a famine in the land, besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time, and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar" Gen:26:1

"And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in the entire world"Gen:41:57

Led to Slavery

Each of these droughts and famines led the Patriarchs to leave the land which had been given to them by the Lord God as an inheritance. This going to other lands looking for sustenance is what eventually led to the enslavement of the Children of Israel, the very people to whom the land of Canaan was promised.

The Lord placed the Patriarchs in Canaan and we read in the Genesis narrative that they made the choice to depart the land without being instructed to do so by the Lord God.

They made this choice, it seems, without inquiring of the God who gave them the land to dwell in or receiving direct instructions. They choose this through their perceptions of the physical conditions alone.

The Patriarchs should have stayed in Canaan and trusted that their God had the power to sustain them. Their leaving created the conditions which led Israel to be enslaved. These Patriarchs should have trusted in the Lord God.

When a Dry Season Comes

There are times when we as Christians, or in the life of our local church(es) pass through dry seasons when-in there seems to little rain fall or there may appear to be no fruit born in our lives as individuals or a local church(es).

In these times, when the Lord seems far off and there is no blessing being rained down upon us and the heavens above seem as brass and the Canaan of our lives seem to produce no real fruit or the Holy Spirit seems to be inactive in our midst. When these dry seasons come upon us, we might, as did the Patriarchs, be tempted to look for substance elsewhere.

We might, as did they, look to another place to go to find what we need rather than trusting in the Lord God to provide for us in our individual or collective dry seasons.

The Patriarchs looked at the physical conditions alone they did not seek God's guidance in their journeys to other lands. They may have missed an opportunity see the providence of God at work.

Leaving Canaan

When our local church(es) finds itself in the midst of a dry season are we like the Patriarchs? Do we want to leave the Canaan of our church(es) and look elsewhere, or when we, as Christians find ourselves in what seems to be a personal dry season, do we leave the Canaan of our Christian life and look for sustenance elsewhere, or what if the nation(s) in which we live in is facing spiritual dry season and there is a real famine of the Canaan of the faith of Jesus, do we seek the land of Egypt?

If we are to depart from local church(es) we should be sure that is what our God would have us do. We should inquire of the Lord not just look at the physical conditions as the Patriarchs did. By leaving, they created the conditions which led to the slavery of Israel.

If we do depart from our local church(es) we need to ensure that this is what the Lord directs us to do and that we are leaving for the right reasons not merely for the sake of conveniences or amenities or driven by personalities, but that God himself leads in the decision. We may miss an opportunity to see God work in a powerful way.

Dry Trees Burns

Look at the nation(s) in which we live, is it spiritually in a dry season? Are the lives of the people "dry" spiritually? People are like trees in a dry season, withered leaves and fruitless. Whether they know it or not they need the refreshing power of the Holy Spirit to rain down upon them and to bring renewal.

People, church(es) or nations can be in this state, yet, as dire as it may first appear there is a great opportunity presenting itself, for all it takes to set a dry tree ablaze is one small spark.

All it may take is one small spark to set off the fire of revival in people’s lives our church(es) or the nation in which we dwell.

Look at the very dryness of the time of our Lord Jesus. In that dry season of the Crucifixion, there came the Holy Spirit upon the Disciples on that day of Pentecost which set off the fire of a true revival that ignited the Christian movement which has changed all things forever.

God may want us to be that agent(s) which sets the spark that ignites the flame of revival in our local church(es) or even in the nations in which we live. God may want us to stay in the Canaan where he has placed us, not to look elsewhere.

How Do We Understand the Season?

Do we see the great opportunity that is being presented to us? All the great genuine revivals came at a time when they were least expected. None ever thought that what occurred on the day of Pentecost would have happened, yet the Disciples heard and obeyed Jesus' instruction to stay where he had placed them.

"On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about." "Acts: 1:4

Where ever our Lord has placed us he has done so for his purposes. We should understand the times in which we live. A great opportunity is before us all in the greater body of the church to be the agents of revival which set the land a blaze with the fire of revival even in the midst of dry season.

A well-known and often quoted Scripture is found in 1Chronl: 12:32a which tells us regarding men of the tribe of Issachar who understood the season which Israel was in.

"the men from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—"

Even in the dry season in which we may be in the midst of, there is a great opportunity to spark the flames of revival and set our church(es) and the land ablaze. Do we understand the times in which we live and what it is we should do?

We should stay in the Canaan where our Lord has placed us even in the dry seasons or we may miss a great opportunity to see what our Lord might do even in a dry season.

Benediction: May we each and all be that spark of revival which sets a blaze the fire of revival even in the midst of a dry season, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen