Overcoming Spiritual Dryness: Practical Steps for Christians

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This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Josh Philpot asks Dr. Richard Caldwell to talk to us about Christians experiencing apathy, weariness, and just sort of feelings of despondency at times regarding the Christian walk and life. But why does this happen? What causes us to enter these periods of spiritual dryness? Sometimes, it might be of our own doing. Other times, it is that something has happened to us, yet other times, it’s just part of living in a fallen world. If, as Christians, we find ourselves experiencing these kinds of feelings, where things seem dark and lonely, where discouragement seems to be raining down on us, how do we climb out of it? Where do we go, and what do we do? How do we fix our troubled hearts? Join us to hear what Dr. Caldwell and Dr. Philpot share as they guide us to think and act biblically in all these ways when we experience perplexity in our souls.

Dr. Caldwell shares that we have all faced these things, and if we haven’t we will. What makes some of these times especially difficult is we have no rhyme or reason for them. When a believer experiences spiritual dryness and can point to sin they’re allowing in their life, the answer is they need to repent. The Bible says to repent and turn from sin, that times of refreshing will come from the Lord. But what if you’re unaware of any sin on your part, any sin you’re not confessing, and yet a dryness has settled in?

Dr. Caldwell reminds us that we're not encouraged to deal with what we can’t see and don’t know. We're called to deal with what we can see and what we do know. Too often, we can get caught up in spending too much time trying to figure out why there's this apathy instead of just dealing with the fact that it exists. Christians live by faith, not by sight or feelings. Feelings are fickle and totally untrustworthy. Our responsibility is to obey the Lord, step by step, moment by moment, day by day, no matter how we feel. Sometimes, our physical condition can weigh in on the dryness and weariness. Our physical issues can influence our minds and our attitudes. This is something we have to fight against. We need to seek the Lord, asking Him for help with our spiritual health and vibrancy, to not remain spiritually dry, and to help us take hold of all the means He has ordained for us to have that health and vibrancy. Therefore, we need to consider some things that might be contributing to our dry wilderness walk. What are we doing during this dry spell? Are we in the Word of God every day? Are we praying as we ought to be? Are we spending time with the Lord’s people? Are we being faithful to the Lord’s church? Are we isolating ourselves? Are we dealing with relational issues? Are we dealing with known sin in our lives? These are the primary means God has ordained for our spiritual well-being. God has not left us alone in the world. He has given us His Spirit, and He has granted us everything we need that pertains to life and godliness. To abandon or neglect our time in His Word, prayer, local church attendance/involvement, and confession of sin will not help us in our dryness; it is more likely that we will remain in this state for a long time.

Dr. Caldwell gives an example from Psalm 63 of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. David was tired, weary, and was experiencing great dryness. Yet his words reflect what he knew he needed and who alone could provide for those needs. Dr. Caldwell also went through a period of spiritual dryness for which there seemed to be no explanation for where several life circumstances may have been contributing factors. He explains that, like David, he knew he had nowhere to go. So Dr. Caldwell just took it to the Lord and spent time talking with God about it daily. He reminds us that only the Lord God can sustain our strength, and God promises He will do that. Our responsibility is to combat these things with our faith. We want to be aware of the environment in which we live, aware of our smallness and our own proneness to all sorts of factors that can affect us spiritually, in addition to not paying too much attention to our feelings. Instead, with sincere faith, we take hold of all the means God has ordained and provided for spiritual health and vibrancy. We must attack all the factors that make for spiritual dryness and do them faithfully.