The Dry Season

In C.S. Lewis's book The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape writes to his nephew, "If once they get through this initial dryness successfully, they become much less dependent on emotion and therefore much harder to tempt." That quote along with Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" shows that unchecked emotions are dangerous things. If your emotions are constantly tipping the scales in your life, then you are bound to be off track.

As humans, we have a wide array of emotions, and many people enjoy the feelings of having deep emotions. We want to see our relationships and our walk with God be a grand splendor of great things, but sometimes it's dry. Sometimes when we're walking with God, it seems boring. You don't hear God talking to you as much as He used to. Maybe His presence isn't as palpable as it was before. The vivid dreams and visions have fizzled into plain ole sleep. Yes, God is good, but there is no exciting thing that is happening right now. It's a new day, and, maybe even, a new routine but there are no sparks flying.

May I submit to you that in those moments, God is evening you out. Being constantly stimulated can have negative effects when it's cut off and can lead you into seeking it out because you've grown accustomed to the high state of your emotions. And, usually, that's where God comes in. He has to take us through a season where we can become balanced. If He did not, your emotions would become more important to you than what God knows is important and they would become a stumbling block to you.

Those seasons usually require stillness with God and separation from others, so that the state of being rooted in God outweighs the need for excessive high or low emotional states. That dry season kills things that shouldn't be inside of you and allows God to water you and help you grow into who He's calling you to be. As you walk with Him in those seasons, He weeds out problems and dig it up. Sometimes, you'll feel empty because you hadn't realized that you were holding onto it for so long. However, give it time, as you walk, you'll feel contentment filling those places and things that used to trigger you, won't make you shoot your emotions all over the place.

TFSx Monique Thompson

01.30.23