One of the more difficult times we experience in our spiritual lives are those moments when we feel spiritually dry and drained. It almost feels like we are in a desert.

Spiritual dryness can be overwhelming at times. It can lead to feeling down and almost feel like depression. And we all experience it. It’s a fact of our spiritual lives. We enjoy the mountaintop experiences. But what do we do when we hit the lower places, the valleys, the deserts?

Sometimes, life just throws us a curve ball, and our lives take a pretty strong hit. A couple of years ago, my wife fell and broke an ankle while pregnant. Soon after, I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, followed by a diagnosis of cancer. It seemed like our world was turned upside down overnight, and we didn’t know what to do.

I felt like that time was one of the driest spiritual stretches I have ever encountered, and yet it was also a period of time where I experienced the most spiritual growth. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, I know. But looking back on that time, and the weeks and months following it, my journal is filled with ways that I can see God molding me into more of the person he wants me to be.

Was it a hard stretch for me spiritually? Yes it was. But that doesn’t mean it was necessarily a bad stretch.

Spiritual dryness isn’t always a bad thing

Through those rough times, I was reminded of several things. First and foremost, God never left my side. I could question how he could let this happen to me, or I could watch and see how he would be glorified through my circumstances. I chose the latter. During that time, I spent much more time in God’s Word than normal, and I saw his goodness shine through page after page.

I was also reminded of his goodness through the people he rallied around me. I had more people praying for me and my family during this stretch than I even knew. Some of those people, I don’t even know how they knew to be praying, but they were. And as a result, many of the relationships I have with some of those people are stronger than ever.

God can use dry, desert experiences to help us grow to be more like Jesus. So it isn’t always a bad thing.

Spiritual dryness develops a craving for God

If you were to walk through a desert, the one thing you would want more than anything else is a drink of water. The same principle holds true with spiritual dryness; it creates a desire for more of God in our lives. A stretch of dry time drives us to see more of God, striving to fill that emptiness that we perceive in our spiritual lives.

Spiritual dryness is often a time of teaching

One of the first questions we should ask during a time of spiritual dryness is, “What is God trying to teach me through this?” During that stretch of time for me, it was a more solid dependence upon him, and I learned more about prayer. Perseverance, comfort, faithfulness, love, and many other characteristics can be the focus of growth during such times.

Spiritual dryness leads to self-examination

Sometimes, a season of spiritual dryness can cause us to identify things in our lives that are not good for us. Sometimes there can be things that hinder our spiritual lives, such as unrepentant attitudes and unconfessed sin. When this is the case, a spiritual desert can be the place where God gets our attention and identifies such things in our lives. When we refuse to deal with sin, it directly affects our relationship with God, and can lead very quickly into a period of dryness.

Using a spiritually dry time as a period of self-examination can be very healthy, and help keep your priorities aligned with God. It’s not always an easy thing to do, but during times like these, take a good hard look at yourself and see if there is anything that needs to be addressed.

The truth is, you and I will experiences times such as these. It’s a fact of life. We cannot be on the mountaintop all the time, and by definition, there are valleys between the mountains. We will experience such times. How we respond to them makes all the difference.

In my experience recently, I found that I could either whine and refuse to grow, or use the desert experience as a catalyst for growth. Seeking God’s good for my life led me to a point where the desert ended, and I was headed to another mountain top.

What is on the other side of that? I don’t know. But I know God will be there in the midst of it.

Question: How do you respond to spiritual dryness in your life? How do you grow from such times? You can leave a comment by clicking here.