#382: Mentoring Moment: Drought

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

Today in this training, CJ is going to really talk about the theme drought and what that means for us as Kingdom writers. So, cj, why don't you share with us?

Yeah. So as we begin, I want to have you, Shelley, pull that up.

There was a, an article that had some before and after photos. Some of you have heard about all the rain and moisture that California received and some of you actually are in California and so you are.

Recipients of all of that moisture. And it happened in just a few weeks span of. And I, I have to look at all this and I don't know where you stand in regard to climate, you know, change and all of this. I don't agree with, with all of the climatologists and some of the things they say, but there's certainly extreme weather happening. But what I want to say here today with these pictures is that isn't it true that God can turn something around in a short amount of time, Something that took years to get into a certain situation. Look at these before and after photos. Here's the first one. I want to show these to show just the dramatic effect of what's happened. And this again was just in about a two to three week span where they got deluged.

They called it even atmospheric flood, floods and, and these reservoirs that were just basically on the brink of, of just drying out completely. There's just been a replenishment. And I don't know about you, but as I've seen these, I've just been praising God on behalf of California and anyone else that's received the rain and the snowpack because they say that in this hasn't happened since 2006, where communities throughout California now can operate at 100% water usage, where they can actually water their lawns without feeling guilty, where they can actually have enough for the crops that obviously the California, the bread basket and everything that's grown there is so important.

I just have to pour out praise what I see in those pictures and thank the Lord for his provision. And to me, when I saw these pictures, I said, this is a picture of us. So often spiritually and even in our writing as Kingdom writers, we can sometimes feel like we've gone through these long seasons of drought I can't write. I don't have any inspiration, or there's. There's this spiritual drought where you just feel. You just feel dry. And I want to suggest three possible reasons why we might be experiencing spiritual as well as writing droughts in our lives. And these three, you know.

They'Re not the only three, but I want to suggest three things that may stand out to us, you know, as, as we hear these things. And the first thing that, the first reason that we might be experiencing is a spiritual writing drought is that we might be disobeying God in some way. It's a very real thing that sometimes our disobedience can produce a dryness that leads us to. To cling back to God, to come back and repent, to come back and fall on our knees in confession of something. And I want to just read you just an example. This is from the Old Testament, and this was with the Israelites. The Lord gave the Israelites very specific instruct coming out of Egypt in the new way they were going to be living for him. And this is just one example. He said in Deuteronomy 28, 22 and 23, he says, this is Moses. The Lord will strike you with wasting diseases. Fever, inflammation, scorching heat, drought. And with blight and mildew, these disasters will pursue you until you die. Now he's talking about those who are just choosing to live in blatant disobedience to him. Them. The skies. Listen to this now. The skies above will be as unyielding as bronze, and the earth beneath will be as hard as iron. And I think how many of you have ever felt that way in your lives where you, you just feel like the prayers are hitting a bronze ceiling?

Maybe the, the. The ground is just hard in our hearts where it doesn't seem like there's much pliability. There's. There's not an ability to, to bring up the soil and plant new seed. We're just stuck. And we've. We've all been there. We've all had those moments where maybe we were just very unyielding to what the Lord wanted to do in our lives. Just disobedient. And so I want to suggest that that could be one reason that we may be experiencing a severe dry season or drought. The second reason that we might be experiencing this is that we might simply be lacking in nourishment in God's word and prayer. And how many know that? And this. The Lord's so gracious in this. How many know that? You know, you can go for a long, a long time, and you may not be regular in your. Your what, your, your reading of scripture or your time in prayer, but the Lord just has a way of drawing you and I back to Him. He gives you that hunger. And listen to this. In Psalm 63:1, it says, oh, God, David's crying out, oh, God, you are my God. I earnestly search for you, my soul. Listen to this word now. My soul thirsts for you.

My whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. And I want to suggest that sometimes the spiritual or writing drought can come because we're not plugging into the nourishment that God has for us. We're not hooking up to his lifeline and allowing that to be downloaded into us to where we have that inspiration to write. We have that desire to come to His Word daily.

I've heard it said that whatever appetite we're feeding, that's the thing that's going to grow in our lives. And so it could be that we might be lacking some nourishment in God's word and prayer, and that might be one of the reasons that we're going through a drought. But then there's a third reason that I, I think sometimes happens with, with all of us, and it may be that we're going from one season to another. And I think, Deb, you kind of alluded to some of this as well, you know, in your comment. But I take us to First Kings, chapter 17. And in this situation, Elijah has already told Ahab, who, by the way, has been listed as a king who has outdone previous kings in evil. God's already said this. He's already done worse than the previous Kings. And him, him setting up.

Altars to baal, giving in to Jezebel, his wife and her side of the family and the religion that they came from and, and accommodating her. And God's not happy. And Elijah basically came to Ahab and said, there's not going to be any rain for quite some time. Just want to give you that warning. But how many know that even in these drought seasons, and this is another thing Deb referred to, is that God does sustain his people, and he will give you what you need as you move from one season to the next. And I want to listen. I want you to listen to this. God was directing Elijah even as he told Ahab, there's not going to be any rain. He was directing Elijah, his prophet, to where There would be food and water. There would be nourishment. And in First Kings 17, 5, 9, it says, so Elijah did as the Lord told him and camped beside Kerith brook, east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and each evening, and he drank from the brook. But after a while. Now listen to this. This is where we come into this point of he might be moving us from one season to the next. It says here the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land. And so that even this brook caught up with the lack of rain, and it was used up. It was dried up. But then the Lord said to Elijah, go and live in the village of Zarephath near the city of Sidon. And by the way, that today is. Is right up on the Lebanese coast, just over the Israeli border, so it's technically in Lebanon. And he says, go there and live in this city of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.

And I want to say this, that God has different ways of providing for us. He has different ways of sustaining you through your drought, through our drought. And in this situation, we see that God may be moving us from one season to the next. He may be moving us from one place to the next. And this is just his way of getting us to move. Now, Elijah just couldn't stay there because the brook dried up and I'm sure the ravens weren't coming to feed him right there anymore. He said, get up. It's time to move on. And he did. And if you read the rest of that story, an incredible miracle happened with this widow and her son. She was greatly encouraged, and Elijah was a part of that because God moved him there in order to be an encouragement to her. She was on her last bit. She was. She had nothing left. And she's probably laughing when Elijah says, yeah, can you give me. Can you give me something to eat and drink? And she barely had enough for her and her son, but the Lord provided, multiplied what she had.

And I want to say this, that Elijah was being prepared, if you read later, he was being prepared for the grand showdown that would happen on that Mount Carmel with the priests of Baal, those 400 priests that he. He had a showdown with. And I want to say that the Lord may be preparing you for something big in your own life. A showdown with the enemy that you're going to win in that battle you're going to overcome. There's been a writing drought. There has been a Spiritual drought. The Lord is going to sustain you. He's going to give you what you need to make it through to the next season. He. He's got it already planned out. And in second chronicles, as we begin to just close this second chronicles 7, 13 and 14, it's those iconic verses that are read in prayer gatherings nationwide, worldwide.

And, and God gives these words to King Solomon. Listen to this. At times.

I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops or send plagues among you. Then. And I think it puts these words in context even more when you read that first verse. Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves.

And pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and listen to this, restore their land.

God's looking for humility. And I think this is one of the overarching points that we can apply to every single one of these three reasons that I mentioned. One, disobedience, two, lacking nourishment.

Three, maybe just moving from one season to the the other. We can respond with humility to every single one of those things that, that may apply to us. In this case, he's telling King Solomon, if my people will humbly come to me, if they'll buy, if they'll pray, if they'll seek my face humbly. I think this is so key in our lives. You find yourself in a writing drought, Fall to your knees, humbly seek the Lord. Ask him, Lord, what's going on here? What does. What's the meaning of what's happening in my life with this drought?

Show me clearly. And it could be different for each one of us. It may be a different reason for each one of us. But finally, in Acts 3:19 and 20, and I'm going to read the message translation here. Listen to these words.

Now it's time to change your ways.

Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins. Pour out showers of blessing. Listen to that. Showers of blessing to refresh you and send you the Messiah he prepared for you, namely Jesus.

Think back to those pictures, those before and after pictures in California. Reservoirs that had just been on the verge of extinction and now they've been fully replenished, fully refreshed. I want to say that God wants to do this in each of our lives. I don't know the timing for each one of us. Only God does. California could have never imagined that in two weeks time their reservoirs would be filled like that. After struggling with the 20 year drought and to now be at a hundred percent water usage availability for local places. And I'm telling you, we never know. Don't discount how God can turn a 1, 2, 3 year writing drought around just like that and allow you to write and write and write words that have been inspired by him and are going to get into the hands of readers who need to read your writing, need to read what you have written in regard to your story, your testimony, the ways you honor and glorify the Lord. They need to hear those words because your words.

That he gives you in replenishing your drought, those words might replenish and bring someone else out of their drought that they're going through.

And that picture, I just think of God replenishing.

A reservoir in California. Do you know how much reverberating effect that's going to have as that continues to, to, to water is released from those reservoirs into the places that they need to go? Rivers are replenished, streams are replenished, people have what they need. And I'm telling you, when God fills your reservoir, he does expect outlet. And he's going to bring replenishment and restoration to communities around people around you who your writings get into their hands. And that's the beauty of God turning around a drought, is he can do it in a heartbeat and he wants to do it in and through you. There's many ways that people can be provided for in a drought and.

That'S, that's my word for you today is that God.

Is up to something in your life. I can't tell you exactly what he's doing personally in your life. Each of us has to decide, okay, what are you saying to me today? Which did these three might I fall into? Is there a little disobedience? Is there a lack of nourishment in my life right now? Or is he just simply moving me from one season to the next? He's moving me from one place to the next in order to get me to a place where I can even be a, a greater blessing to others. What's he doing in your life? What's he doing in mine? I want to say the spiritual drought, the writing drought, will not last forever. But let's make the most of the drought that we're in and say, what would you like to do in and through this Lord, this season?

Yeah, it's so good. And I just heard someone say yesterday about prayer. It's like when we go through those trials, those difficult times, the dry times, he said, make make it count. And, you know, it's like, I feel like the Lord's been saying that to me lately, too. James 1 says, you know, let steadfast have its full effect. And I feel like I was resisting. It's like, I don't want it. Anyone else. Anyone else not wants the trials or the droughts or whatever you're going through. And I feel like, for me, it was a little bit of all three that CJ was saying. And, you know, the Lord, I've. There's been a lot of repentance in my life over the last few months. A lot of, you know, renewal, a lot of filling up, a lot of, you know, just moving from one season to the next. And for me, my drought looked like anxiety, worry, you know, and it's like, no, this is not my inheritance in God. This is not what he has for me. And it's been a process. You know, those of you that struggle with worry or have anxiety, you know, it's. It's a process, process. It's layers, I often say. But in First Peter 5, I've been memorizing this, and it says.

Humble yourselves, therefore. This is verse six and seven. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God. So at the proper time, he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. And I read a commentary, and they said the way the Greek language is set up, the. The words humility, it's connected with anxiety. It's connected with casting our anxiety on the Lord. And C.J. was saying, we need to humble ourselves and remember, right? Remember who God is. Remember what he has done. And so I could probably preach for a long time on all that God's been teaching me, but we will be sharing little by little over time. But just know God is really renewing me. I feel like those before and after pictures. I just came back from a spiritual retreat with Revelation Wellness. I. I feel filled up. And yet, you know, there are. We all have those seasons. We all have those things, those trials that we walk through. And let's make it count. Let's ask the Lord to teach us. What is it that he wants to teach us during those season? How does he want to grow us? Because how many of us know we grow the most during these hard seasons? And I've been growing, growing, growing a ton. So, cj, thank you for this, and why don't you close us with this in encouragement and prayer.

Father, we. We thank you that you are the God of replenishment, restoration.

And I Pray, Lord, for my fellow Kingdom writers here, I don't know where they're at in terms of a drought, spiritually, maybe in regard to writing, I think it all connects in some way. But I just want to pray, Lord, that.

You would bring clarity to their. Their hearts and their minds. Pray that you would begin to replenish their lives, that you would overflow the banks in their lives. Yeah. With inspiration that comes from you. Yeah. I pray that each person, all of us would humbly bow our knee to you, would humbly cry out to you.

For what. What we need and what you want to do. And I just thank you for each person. We know that droughts are. Are seasonal. They're temporary. They're not. They're not. They're not meant to be permanent. And I just want to pray, Lord, that each and every person here would be able to experience that replenishment that you have for them and overflow into the lives of others as well that might be in a drought. And we just thank you for you're going to do in that. As part of that, I'm praying that today and tomorrow there would be replenishment, that we'd even begin taking place. May the reservoirs begin to rise.

Those spots that show dryness, may they begin to fill. Yes. This in Jesus name, amen.

Amen.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you, as a Christian writer, have a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this, we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy, where we help you give birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom writers.