THE END OF THE DROUGHT

Text: Lam 5:21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
Hag 1:11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.


Introduction: In our text, God is using a drought to cause His people to consider their ways and turn back to Him.
In this message we are going to compare a physical drought to a spiritual one.
During a drought of water, the crops cease to flourish, the cattle stand with heads down as they mournfully low for water, and the green of the pasture fades to a dusty brown. The farmer looks hopefully at each cloud, but they bring only more choking dust.
A spiritual drought is similar in many ways, but there is one striking difference; Those affected can end the spiritual drought at once if they are willing!

I. The FACT of a spiritual drought
A. The world is a dry and thirsty land and can supply no spiritual needs.
Psa 63:1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

B. Who suffers most in a spiritual drought?
Psa 68:6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

C. What does a spiritual drought do?
1 Dries up all former blessings.
Job 24:19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.
2. Brings growth to a halt. (Corn tassels out , then turns brown, leaving all promise of fruit unfulfilled)
Gal 5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

II God can lead His people safely through drought
Jer 2:6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
8 The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

A. He does this by water from the Rock!
Deu 8:15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

I Cor 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

B. In serving, we are served
Isa 58:10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

III He can end the drought for the lost soul.
A. At the fountain of living water
John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

B. Reformation will not end the drought
Mat 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

C. The water from the smitten Rock will still do the job.
Psa 105:41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.
(See I Cor 10:4; John 4:10 - 14 in II A and III A above)

IV The real desire of His people determines the spiritual weather.