Daily Devotion for November 8, 2006

When You Are Spiritually Empty

 

When... their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them... I will make the desert a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water... so that all may see and know, all may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this. Isaiah 41:17-20

 

Jesus said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink." John 7:37

 

See if you've ever been in this place in your spiritual life:

 

Your spirit is dried up and withered. In prayer you hear only the echoes of your own pleas. You wander aimlessly through the barren souls cave, searching for that Friend and Companion promised in scripture, the One who promised to comfort you and give you living water in a dry, parched land. But there is only emptiness.

 

Scripture uses the imagery of the desert for such times as these, and is honest enough to suggest that they will come to most of us and come when we least want to deal with them.

 

Ever keep a journal? A spiritual journal is an excellent way of expressing the journey of faith with its ups and downs and its twists and turns. It becomes a reminder that all is not darkness and that life has its mountaintop moments as well as the valleys of the shadow of death and the deserts of dryness.

 

I know the power of the Word in my life, especially when I feel dry and worn and weary. I will never weary of telling about the passages of Scripture that persuade me of the nearer presence of my Savior in the moments I need him most. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". And that means

I can walk through the valley of the
shadow of death,
I can bear the emptiness of the desert,

 

the moments of doubt,
the experiences of suffering and sorrow,
the agony of indecision,
the guilt of sin and all that life can
throw at me,
and still know that God is with me,
I am not alone,
I am never alone.

Prayer
Oh Holy Spirit, Love of God, infuse your grace, and descend plentifully into my heart; enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there your cheerful beams; dwell in that soul that longs to be your temple; water that barren soil, overrun with weeds and briars, and lost for want of cultivating, and make it fruitful with your dew from heaven. Oh, come, refreshment of those that languish and faint. Amen. (St. Augustine)

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