Life-Giving Words of Hope & Encouragement

What do we do when we have big dreams and stand on God’s promises, yet we don’t see any changes? Life can feel dry and barren during these seasons.

Psalm 68 says, “You sent an abundant rain, O God.” Every drought we experience is only temporary. Your dry season is not going to last forever, and that addiction is not going to be with you your whole life. Rain is coming. Struggle and lack are not your destiny. They are only temporary. Rain is on its way.

Some of you have been experiencing a health drought—chronic pain or feeling unwell. It might be tempting to settle there. Perhaps you feel stuck in your career, you can’t seem to catch a break, or you were passed over for a promotion. Don’t get discouraged. God has something better in store for you—a downpour of abundance, an overflow of blessings.

Sometimes, we feel empty inside, but that is not the end of our story. If your story isn’t good, your story isn’t over. Rain is coming. Scripture says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Rain can transform a dry, barren place and bring new life. It may have been that way for a long time, but when the rain comes, things that seem dead will bloom, blossom, and flourish.

Things can change, even when you feel like it’s all over, such as losing a loved one, a dream, or a relationship. God will turn your mourning into dancing, sorrow into joy, and loneliness into love. He will give you beauty for those ashes.

In 1 Kings, Chapter 18, the Samaritans experienced a severe famine. There was no rain for three and a half years, and the people barely survived, with little food. Then the prophet Elijah arrived and said to King Ahab, “I hear the sound of the abundance of rain.” When he said this, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and there was no sign of rain. Despite the drought and famine that he saw with his eyes, he chose to believe what he heard in his spirit. In his heart, he heard the sound of the abundance of rain.

Faith is believing in what you feel in your spirit, especially when your eyes see the opposite. You may hear abundance but see lack, hear health but see sickness, or hear rain but see drought around you.

I’m sure Ahab thought Elijah had lost his mind because there was not a single cloud in the sky. It can be easy to talk yourself out of what God wants to do, when the medical report is not good or your child is still misbehaving. We must be like Elijah and have the boldness to believe what God has put in our heart.

Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel and asked his assistant to look on the other side of the mountain to see if there was any sign of rain. He put actions behind his faith, expecting it to change. The assistant came back and said, “No, Elijah. There’s not a cloud in the sky. It’s not going to rain.” Elijah didn’t get discouraged or think, “Well, I must have heard God wrong.” Instead, he told the assistant to go back and look again. After six attempts, the assistant still reported, “No clouds.”

If you want to experience abundance, don’t let others discourage you from pursuing what you believe in your heart. Refuse to let words of doubt and discouragement take hold of you. People might say, “Do you really think you’ll recover? My grandfather had the same illness, and he didn’t make it.” Let those comments pass right through you. Remember, people don’t dictate your future—God does.

What you hear in your spirit is more powerful than any negative words spoken over you. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear the sound of abundance. That’s the Creator of the universe calling out your seeds of greatness. You’ve got to say, “Yes, this is for me today. My child may be off course, but I’m not worried. I hear the sound of restoration. I know the rain is coming.” “I may not feel well. I’m not discouraged. I hear the sound of healing.” “I went through a loss. I’m not living depressed. I hear the sound of new beginnings. I know the drought is ending, and the rain is coming.”

On the seventh time, the assistant returned and said, “Elijah, I saw a small cloud in the sky. It wasn’t much. Don’t get your hopes up. It was just about the size of a man’s hand.” One thing I love about God is that He can take something small and turn it into something extraordinary.

Most people would dismiss it. They’d say, “It’s nothing. It’s insignificant.” Yet God can bring a downpour out of it. What am I saying? You don’t need a bunch of people behind you; you just need the right person behind you. You don’t have to be the most powerful or the most influential. God used a teenage girl named Esther—an orphan—to save Israel. God used a slingshot and a few stones to defeat Goliath and put David, a shepherd boy with no training, on the throne of Israel. Don’t discount the little cloud. God can take something small and turn it into something extraordinary. The less God has to work with, the more glory He receives.

Some of you, like Elijah, all you can see is a little cloud, a little glimmer of hope. It doesn’t look like much. Every voice tells you, “Don’t get your hopes up. You’re going to be disappointed again. Nothing is going to change.” I want to tell you the opposite: get your hopes up. Find your umbrella. God is about to rain down an abundance of favor in your life. God has done it in the past and He will do it in the future.

Elijah then told King Ahab, “You should go back to your chariot and leave because the sound of abundance that I’ve heard on the inside is about to happen on the outside.” Ahab left in his chariot, and Elijah started running. This was before there was any sign of rain. Notice how Elijah was planning for abundance even though all he could see was a small cloud.

If you wait around feeling discouraged and pessimistic, saying ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ you’ll end up waiting your whole life. Instead, act like Elijah did and start making plans for abundance. Say, ‘When I get well,’ not ‘If I get well.’ Say, ‘When I break this addiction,’ not ‘If I break this addiction.’ Declare, ‘When I start my new business,’ not ‘If I start my business.’ Show God that you trust Him.

All of your circumstances may say, “You’ll never get well. You’ll never get out of debt. You’ll never accomplish your dreams. There’s not a cloud in the sky.” But take heart. Don’t let your circumstances discourage you. Everything doesn’t have to look the way you think it should. God’s ways are not our ways. God brought water out of a rock. Jesus told Peter to catch a fish to find the money needed for taxes. God caused a young lady named Mary to have a baby without knowing a man.

God has ways to bring abundance into your life beyond your imagination. You don’t need to understand everything. All you have to do is have faith. Proverbs says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Sometimes, there may not be a logical solution. If you keep trying to figure it out, it will only bring discouragement, depression, and frustration. Just because you can’t see a way doesn’t mean God doesn’t have a way.

I remember a story about a little girl who wanted a kitten. She kept asking her mother week after week, but her mom didn’t want any more pets and told her no repeatedly. The little girl persisted, asking for the kitten for months. Finally, her mother said, “Listen, honey. If God gives you a kitten, I’ll let you keep it.”

The little girl didn’t know any better. She went into her backyard, knelt, and said, “God, please give me a kitten.” When she finished praying, with her mother watching, a kitten flew out of the air and landed unharmed beside her. The mother thought she was seeing things. She went outside and looked around. There was no tree overhead. It was as if the kitten had rained down from the heavens.

The little girl picked it up and said, “Thank you, Lord, for my kitten.” Several weeks later, the mother learned that one of her neighbors, who lived behind her, was trying to rescue the little kitten from a small tree. The father couldn’t reach it with his ladder, so he tied a rope around the tree and the other end to the bumper of his car. He began to pull the vehicle forward to bend the tree over. However, when he got it bent far enough where he thought he could reach the kitten, the rope broke, and the tree acted like a catapult. It swung that kitten over 200 yards and landed beside that little girl.

God knows how to bring blessings into your life in ways you’ve never imagined. He knows how and when to end the drought. He doesn’t need specific conditions to make it happen, and He may not do it as you expect, so keep praying and get ready for your breakthrough! I hope that speaks to you, and I pray you have a blessed day.