Desert Times
Have you ever gone through "Desert Times" in your life? You know...the dry times when God feels a billion miles away and any sense of "feeling" in your walk with the Lord is long gone. It's when the voices of failure, discouragement and inferiority get real loud in your head. We are forever giving out in youth ministry and it can become incredibly depleting.
Though it's possible to bring spiritual deserts on yourself by refusing to deal with sin or never spending time with the Lord, sometimes deserts are God's plan. Remember Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit and He came out in the Power of the Spirit. If you're frightened of barren non-feeling times and they become an enemy to you...you'll never walk in the Power of the Spirit of God.
What are God's purposes for you while in the Desert?
- To free you from the idolatry of feelings.
- To keep us from being "over watered" spiritually, because that will eventually destroy us.
- To help us grow in love with Him rather than in love with feelings of Him.
- To force your spiritual root structure to go deeper.
- To separate religious feelings from religious reality.
- To bring you to a place of spiritual maturity and stability which will allow you to be strong even during difficult times.
What do you do while you are in the Desert?
- Focus on God's character, not on your own lack of feelings.
- Take some "Me & God" time.
- Guard your thought life.
- Always seek relationship above experience.
Don't make your goal getting out of the desert...your goal needs to be growing through the desert. Be careful not to confuse "feelings" with "relationship," they have very little to do with each other. If you don't get that, you'll be frustrated, angry, guilt ridden...and you'll never be a force for hell to reckon with.
Have you ever gone through "Desert Times" in your life? You know...the dry times when God feels a billion miles away and any sense of "feeling" in your walk with the Lord is long gone. It's when the voices of failure, discouragement and inferiority get real loud in your head. We are forever giving out in youth ministry and it can become incredibly depleting.
Though it's possible to bring spiritual deserts on yourself by refusing to deal with sin or never spending time with the Lord, sometimes deserts are God's plan. Remember Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit and He came out in the Power of the Spirit. If you're frightened of barren non-feeling times and they become an enemy to you...you'll never walk in the Power of the Spirit of God.
What are God's purposes for you while in the Desert?
- To free you from the idolatry of feelings.
- To keep us from being "over watered" spiritually, because that will eventually destroy us.
- To help us grow in love with Him rather than in love with feelings of Him.
- To force your spiritual root structure to go deeper.
- To separate religious feelings from religious reality.
- To bring you to a place of spiritual maturity and stability which will allow you to be strong even during difficult times.
What do you do while you are in the Desert?
- Focus on God's character, not on your own lack of feelings.
- Take some "Me & God" time.
- Guard your thought life.
- Always seek relationship above experience.
Don't make your goal getting out of the desert...your goal needs to be growing through the desert. Be careful not to confuse "feelings" with "relationship," they have very little to do with each other. If you don't get that, you'll be frustrated, angry, guilt ridden...and you'll never be a force for hell to reckon with.
Related Items
I wish someone would have taught me much earlier in my walk with Christ that "desert" experiences do not necessarily mean you have done anything wrong, but are often times part of God's plan for spiritual growth.
There are Godly purposes and responses to our desert times and in this Youth Leader's Coach we'll discover them. For often times, the Lord speaks the loudest while in the desert. And, as long as we learn to listen with a different set of ears, the experience and growth can be profound.
So grab a cup of coffee and let's dive in...together!
Listening intently,
What habits are you developing when it comes to your relationships? In so many ways, that's really what it boils down to isn't it...relational commitments and habits? That is what it's going to require to take our youth ministries to the next level. And, as odd as it sounds, that is what it's going to require to sustain us through the desert times.
We believe this Alliance topic, "Surviving Desert Times In Youth Ministry," will be timely for so many of us as we franticly rush out of the non-stop action of summer into the feverish pace of fall. If we were honest, some of us would admit to not having stopped long enough to even breathe, let alone have a quiet time. As a result, I believe some of us and our youth pastor friends are heading hard and fast into a "Desert Time" as a result of it. Before we feel deflated, defeated and want to throw in the towel, let's put on the brakes, determine the warning signs and kick Satan in the knees by implementing some preventative measures and developing some new relational commitments and habits.
