DivineSample

DIVINE DROUGHTS Sometimes, what God removes from your life will be just as divine as what He brings into your life. What if we got into the habit of praising God, not just for where He leads us, but for where He doesn’t allow us to go? What if we worshiped Him for what He gives and what He takes away? While divine words can be spoken to us through prayer or a sermon, the deepest levels of divine insight often come when we’re cut off from the source of something we think we need. C.S. Lewis once wrote, “God whispers in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Yes, we hear God best when we’re quiet, but we usually look for Him most when we’re hurting or helpless. In 1 Kings 17, we read about Elijah, one of the coolest dudes in the Bible, living through a drought. The Bible says Elijah was living by a stream, and eventually the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. When resources dry up in our own lives, we’re forced to evaluate if our trust is rooted in the gift or the Giver. When what we thought we couldn’t live without disappears, we have a divine opportunity to learn firsthand how our help and hope can be found in God alone. Elijah wasn’t distraught over the drought because he knew who controlled the rain. We don’t read about Elijah freaking out when the stream dried up because his security wasn’t tied to the stream. Maybe you’ve been navigating loss that you didn’t expect or want. Whether it’s a breakup or the betrayal of a friend, trust that if God took it away it’s because you don’t need it as much as you thought you did. Open doors are divine gifts, but some doors will be closed in your life by divine grace. Praise God for both! The disappointments you’re facing right now could be divine redirection. Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “The person who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed. They will be like a tree planted by water: it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or stop producing fruit.” If your roots reach the right place, then you shouldn’t dread the drought. In fact, the drought can create some of the best conditions for showing a lost world what divine strength, grace, and power look like. Take some time today to thank God for something He’s taken away or a door He’s closed. Ask Him to show you what you really need instead of what you think you need.