Are you experiencing dryness in your life? A dwindling life of prayer; a dwindling health? The drying brook of finances slowly crashing before the demands of sickness, large debts, or unforeseen challenges. The drying brook of relationship or marriage which you have built for long but is diminishing and threatens soon to cease. If you find yourself in any of these conditions you are bound to ask:
Why does God allow them dry?
Listen, He has a reply, just read slowly: (1 Kings 17:7-11)
The Brook [stream] in the place where Elijah lay hidden dried up, for the country had no rain. And then the word of the Lord came to Elijah, ‘Up and go to Zarephath, a Sidonian town, and stay there. I have ordered a widow there to give you food.’ So he went off to Sidon. And when he reached the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks; addressing her he said, ‘Please bring me a little water in a vessel for me to drink.’ She was setting off to bring it when he called after her. ‘Please’ he said ‘bring me a scrap of bread in your hand.’
POINTS FOR REFLECTION
1. After a while the Brook dried up: Elijah saw the flow of the stream slow down until it dried up. His source of water was gone! It is sad and painful watching the things that bring us joy or things we worked hard for dry up like that!
2. But why did God let it dry? The Bible says Because there had been no rain in the land: This was the drought Elijah prayed for. He did not pray for rain to come again, even for his own survival! Can you imagine that rather he kept the purpose of God first, even when it adversely affected him?
3. When God allows adversities to befall us He wants to teach us some useful lessons. He wants to teach us not to trust in His gifts but in Himself. He wants to drain us of ‘the self’, as He drained the apostles by ten days of waiting in prayers before Pentecost.
4. He wants to loosen our ‘roots of pride’: imagine Elijah- a great prophet who could stop rains for 3½ years with prayers must now condescend to beg in order to survive! Are you still locked up in your pride? Remember it is because of Jesus’ humility as a slave (even though He is God) that won him the name that is above every name in heaven, on earth, and in the underworld (Phil. 2:7-11).
[To Learn How to manage moments of Dryness: Click here to see the message on ONE STEP AT A TIME]
TASK: Are you still locked up in your pride, or ashamed to share your drying streams with someone? Take your up Bible and Pray Psalm 30 now.
I pray for you: may all your SORROWS that last for the night be dispelled by the JOY that comes with the morning. Amen.
©Fr. SimOne Madu, OSJ
