My Brook Ran Dry

(Until I have some new stuff to share, here are some recent Facebook posts)


Every Sunday, I go home and "chew" on the sermon.  It's like a big wad of gum from which I am determined to get every ounce of flavor (I know that may sound kind of gross, especially when I'm talking about a sermon, but go with it, okay?  ha ha).   Here's what I took from the message today:  

God provided Elijah  food and a brook during a time of drought.  Then the brook dried up.  God could have kept the brook flowing, but He didn't because it was time for Elijah to move on.  Elijah had things to do, people to see, a kid to raise from the dead.  God had big plans for Elijah that weren't going to get accomplished while he was camped out beside the brook.  

God provides us our own brooks during time of drought.  He brings blessings and opportunities during our time of need.  And then sometimes, He takes them away.  It's easy to feel like we've been abandoned or forgotten or that God is punishing us in some way because He blessed and then...it stopped.  But sometimes God has something bigger and better.  He provided that brook during our time of need, but He never intended us to stay at the brook.  And if you're stubborn like me, you're prone to staying where you're comfortable, even when you feel God nudging you to move away from the brook. So what does God do?  He dries up the brook and MAKES me move on.  He makes depending on Him my ONLY option.

I wrote recently that I struggle with giving my problems to God.  I also struggle with giving beginnings and endings to God.  I'm the one digging in the brook, looking for that last drop of water. 

BUT I'm getting better.  I'm learning to hand my worries over.  I'm learning to lean not on own understanding.  I'm learning that God's will IS going to be done and that I have to CHILL OUT.  

The preacher shared a quote this morning from A.W. Tozer.  He said, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”  Sometimes our brook is going to dry up.  It's may hurt.  It may be terrifying.  It may last way longer than we think we can survive.  But God dries up those brooks to push us toward new opportunities, to prepare us for the blessings in store.  Often people don't appreciate their blessings if they've never known hardship.  Some of the most incredible testimonies begin during times of drought in our lives.  

There are brooks in my life that are dry.  I can keep camping here, trying to fill them with tears or buckets of water I drag in from elsewhere.  Or I can pack up my camp and step out in faith, knowing God will provide but that it may be in a way I couldn't foresee.  

If God has provided a brook in your life, don't forget to praise Him.  It's so easy to take credit for our accomplishments and blessings, but every good and perfect gift is from Him.  If you're sitting beside a dry brook, don't lose hope.  God wants to meet your needs.  Remember, He provided that brook, that opportunity.  He hasn't forgotten you.  But you have to do your part.  Get up and get out.  He can't lead you when you're sitting on your bottom beside a dried up brook.