Drought seasons are a time when we experience a shortage of our needs. While this may seem like the worst season to be in, it’s actually the season where we will grow the most. Press through the drought.

As a single person, the thing I desired most was to be in a relationship.

God asked me to stay single last year because there was still a lot he was trying to teach me. He wanted me to learn to depend on him before a man and to trust that he was enough.

During this process, I had met someone who I knew was the one from God. This made me even more eager to want to be in a relationship with him but I reminded myself that I wasn’t ready yet.

As January was creeping in, I was preparing myself for the Daniel’s fast. I prayed and asked God to teach me to make him my first love and to prepare me to be ready for a relationship. God then told me that in the next 3 weeks he would transform me like never before.

I was so excited to hear that and told myself, “Finally, I can be in a relationship soon.”

But God surprised me during the last week of my fast. He asked me a question that I thought I could never say yes to.

God asked, “If you didn’t have to be single anymore, would you still be single for the sake of helping others?”

My heart paused. I couldn’t answer God. This whole time I thought God was preparing me to be in a relationship so that I could be in a relationship.

But I finally saw the bigger picture. He was teaching me to be whole and free as a single to help others be whole and free.

I could have left the drought season and enter into a relationship that I most desired, but I chose to press through the drought some more.

I no longer saw the drought season as a time of dread, but a time to dig deeper into God and flourish even more.

Even in the midst of the drought, we can still draw from God.

The heat and drought in our lives push us to grow deeper in Christ. Our roots then become strong to withstand anything.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Even in the midst of our dry seasons, we can still bear fruit for others to see God’s goodness because we are drawing our source of hope from God. Our condition no longer is based on external factors, but in Christ alone.

When we are rooted in Christ, nothing can move us. We will continue to be a blessing to all despite the hardships we go through. We will be like that tree that Jeremiah describes; a tree whose leaves are always green despite the heat. Only God can provide the living water that will sustain us through our dry seasons.

I’m willing to press in through singleness some more because I know I will only come out stronger. God was right when he told me that he would transform me like never before. I could never imagine myself saying yes to God if he had asked me that question last year.

But God has changed me completely. I went from not being able to let go of a relationship to choosing not to be in a relationship when I could have been in one. I finally learned what it means to make God my first love.

James 1:2 says “Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” We must practice perseverance to be strong in God.

James 1:4 goes on to say, “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

You’ve reached a level of maturity when you can appreciate the hardships in your life. You no longer mind lingering a bit longer through the trials because you know you will learn to be unshakable.

David was a man who was firm in the Lord and was able to be still in God even in the midst of hardships. He was constantly being chased by King Saul who was after his life. David had many opportunities to kill King Saul and take things into his own hands, but he trusted God and surrendered it to him.

David tells King Saul in 1 Samuel 24:10, “This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord gave you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, “I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.”

David could have killed King Saul and not have to live in fear anymore. He could have taken away the discomfort and tension from his life, but he chose to be still in God.

David was still in God despite his circumstances, and so can you.

Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”

When we recognize that God is in control and is always for our good, nothing can shake us. No heat or drought can take us down. When we put our worries into God’s hands, he sustains us through.

God was using David’s drought season to prepare him as King. God only takes us through the drought to prepare us for greater things. Our drought season isn’t our final destiny – it’s the time to be molded deeper in Christ to be ready to face our destiny.

The Psalms in the Bible were birthed through the trials David faced. God too will use your trials to create songs, books, and words that will help others.

Will you persevere through the trial of life and not take things into your own hands? Will you trust God to be enough to sustain you through?

Psalms 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” God’s help is always available for you. When you’re struggling with the deepest doubts, run to God and confess it all. God’s strength and his peace will renew you like never before. So remember, press through the drought.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you that you are able to sustain me through any drought or storm.