Melting the Spiritual Frost

Spiritual dryness is like a frost,

Like when a sword blade sticks in its sheath,

It disables and corrupts, making us lost,

Our eyes are called from heaven, somehow underneath.

The key, of course, is to solemnly stick,

To the facts of knowledge we already know,

We trust and obey, that’s what we pick,

And out of our trials we cannot but grow.

The agency for spiritual growth is hardship, and there may be no more confounding an experience as hardship and spiritual dryness. Frost has this thing about it that it renders things immovable. The agency for spiritual growth is hardship, and there is nothing worse by experience, and nothing better by potential for growth, than the hardship of spiritual dryness.

It bears repeating that much of the Bible deals with real-life scenarios, where biblical characters underwent severe hardships, yet, through their faith, they were able to overcome.

Spiritual dryness is no different. When we are caught in the midst of a frosty morning – spiritually speaking – we should have but one aim: to get out and amongst it and explore the frost. Such a contemplation is a good idea but it requires courage.

Courage is what powers our tenacity to plumb the depths of our dryness and to survive the frost as it gradually melts upon the rising of the sun from the east.

Enduring by Courage

There is no good holding God to ransom when we are feeling dry and alone and bereft of the presence of God. The Lord of Glory cannot be held to ransom. God Almighty makes the rules and is not subject to them. It harms only us to turn our backs on God. Turning our backs is pitiful. It’s also such a waste. The best of growth is occurring now, somehow.

At this point we accept life as it is – hard as that seems – and to do this requires courage. We are not in control, but we can do one thing: trust and obey.

Courage helps us endure.

Courage helps us to ply our faith and it gives us space mentally for wisdom. Courage is not just a physical attribute, but it is the patience that wards off a silly response, or, in this case of spiritual dryness, it helps us not give up.

So we need courage, and just enough of it to get through the tempting minutes.

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Spiritual dryness is like a frost over a well-cut lawn. It disables us by the sheer coldness of temperature. All we can do is trust and obey. That requires courage to endure. And such courage helps us ply our faith. And such faith will mean we will be patient, guarding our responses in enough wisdom to get through. Be assured, growth comes from dryness; when the spiritual frost melts we see!

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.