The Arid Places

Yesterday I was watching a show in which the villain had beaten the protagonist. When the protagonist asked the villain "why me??", the villain answered "Because I can sense desperation". I felt those electric chills of the Holy Spirit run through me, and immediately Matthew 12:43 came to mind. "When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it." Arid places...Impute spirits in arid places...I looked deeper into the word arid. It means "having little or no rain", "too dry or barren to support vegetation" OR "lacking in interest, excitment, or meaning". Wow! God began to reveal more. In the grand story, we have an ALMIGHTY Savior and we have a villan- an enemy. Both are drawn to our DESPERATION. Those times when we feel like financial or spiritual "rain" is sparse, those times when we feel "barren" and are seeing little fruit produced in our lives, those times when our passion or interest or excitment about our callings or relationships with God wanes. These are times we must be most vigilant because these are when God wants to come to our rescue. His heart is pulled by our desperation! He answers the cries of His children! These are also times, however, when our enemy wants us to quit or give up just short of the breakthrough. This morning God spoke to me through Jeremiah 29:28. In context, this was a time the enemy used false messages to try to derail God's people from His promises. Through Jeremiah God had told His people to build and plant and be fruitful as they waited for the restoration that would come in 70 years. He decrees a time of PRODUCTIVE waiting. Similarly, there is a greater restoration coming to the people as God promises to bring those who have been rejected and scattered back together into an even greater, more united movement of the body, but in the meantime they are NOT TO STOP or be idle. I believe God is also speaking this to us now. Many are in seasons of waiting but also have received callings from the Lord to begin on. Don't let desperation or uncertainty of the big picture let you believe the lies that you will be tempted with. God WILL fulfill His word. It will be on HIS time. There are also wonders to behold in the PROCESS, so continue to BUILD and GROW in this place that feels transitional. Though it may not make sense, God has a greater vision. The ROAD to your end product will carry just as much fulfillment as the perceived destination if you trust God to fill your arid places!