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| Revelations and Glory series |


* God’s Glory Concealed
* Revelations that Change Us
* We Need Spiritual Hunger
* Why Am I in a Dry Season?







We have all gone through dry seasons where we feel disconnected from Him, seasons where we don’t see revelations like we used to. Why does this happen? What causes these seasons to sneak up on us? Whereas we have seen why we want to overcome these seasons, today we’re going to look for how we do that by understanding what keeps us there. Whereas we saw the encouragement in Scripture to desire to pursue Him, now let’s see the exhortation to actually do it.



Last time we saw that Paul’s instructions about what keeps a person from being able to eat food were also given to teach us about God’s principles for spiritual food (revelations from God) as well. We saw the theme of these instructions was that we must be willing to work if we want to eat. We must be willing to “seek with all our heart” if we want to find. But the rest of this passage gets so specific and shows us four things that keep us in these dry seasons.



For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now we command and exhort such persons in the Lord Jesus Christ to work peacefully and eat their own bread. (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, NASB)



Discipline



First, Paul describes those who are “leading an undisciplined life”. That word for “undisciplined” can more directly be understood as “lacking proper order”. I can think of no more perfect word to describe the pattern that I slip into over and over, where I slowly forget the importance of spending time seeking revelation from His word in His presence. I’ve forgotten the “proper order” of things and reduced the importance of what is essential to my spiritual health. What’s more, over time I eventually see and feel the effects this has on every aspect of my health.



When we’re in a dry season, this is the first question we can ask: Have I forgotten the importance of spending time with Him, spending time meditating on His Word?



Idleness



Paul goes on to describe these people as “doing no work at all”. When we think of applying this to spiritual food, it reminds us of something that’s easy to forget: Revelation does not come without work. I can certainly attest to that.