It’s been another dry late summer and early autumn. The kind of dry where the grass grows a little more yellow and less green, the leaves fade to brown and turn crunchy, and the creeks and rivers look like stone paths…

The air is dry. The woods are quiet with the whisper of leaves falling. The land waits for rain.

It’s been dry.

Waiting for Rain

It’s interesting how the seasons change and bring a shift to our perspective as well. In spring, we had enough rain, and we were tired of muddy boots and always soaked rain coats. Then, in the summer, we wished for thunderclouds to stay away so our plans wouldn’t be interrupted, giving us maximum time to camp, picnic, explore, and enjoy every drop of summer fun. But this fall? This fall we’ve been waiting for rain.

And its not just the land that has been waiting for rain.

Our hearts, minds, and spirits can run dry, too. Spiritually, we can be parched. The kind of dry that deepens to drought as we wait for prayers seemingly unanswered, hearts heavy under burdens, and times when joy runs scarce.

It’s been dry… not only in nature, but in our souls too.

Do you know that type of drought? Can you feel that yearning… for rain?

Rain…

We watched for it, searched forecasts for hope, looked at the skies for signs… and one day there was a different smell on the wind, a cool dampness on the breeze when the tiny drops started falling…

Starting with a sprinkle, then a steady falling rain…

leaves dripped with water, the scent of wet earth rose from the ground, water splashed on rocks, then flowed in streams…

The earth came alive with the falling rain.

And as I stood in the once nearly dry riverbed, watching the water return, I thought about how this happens in our spiritual lives, too. There are seasons when God’s presence feels like a steady rain — refreshing, abundant, and unmistakable. But there are also times when our faith feels brittle, our prayers dry, and our hearts cracked from waiting.

David knew that kind of season. He cried out:

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
— Psalm 63:1

The psalmist’s words remind us that thirsting for God isn’t a sign of failure, it’s an honest expression of our dependence. We need God more than the earth needs the rain.

God’s timing is often like the rain; it doesn’t always come when we expect or in the amount we think we need. But when it does, it changes everything.

The Rain Will Come

From the midst of a bleak and weary land, the prophet Hosea held on to the promised hope.

“Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
His going out is sure as the dawn;
He will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.”
— Hosea 6:3

Just as the rain eventually returns to the land, so God’s presence comes to those who wait on Him. His timing is not ours. The Israelites waited generations for deliverance. The disciples waited for days in the upper room for the Holy Spirit. And you and I may wait months or years for answers, healing, or hope. But when God moves among us — He always does — life springs up where there was once only dust.

A Shift in Perspective

What do we see in the lack of rain? What do we learn in the waiting? In the dry seasons we learn things times of abundance can’t teach us. Waiting deepens our gratitude. Longing sharpens our awareness. And when the rain finally falls, we don’t take it for granted.

The Bible reminds us:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
— Ecclesiastes 3:1

Each season, whether it feels like drought or downpour, has a purpose in God’s story for us. And sometimes, the beauty of the rain is made all the more glorious because of the long, thirsty wait.

An Invitation to Wait Well

If you’re in a dry season right now, I want to encourage you: the rain is coming. God has not forgotten you. Keep praying even when the words feel scarce. Keep opening Scripture even when the pages feel silent. Keep watching the horizon.

And when the first drops fall… when hope returns, when peace seeps back into the cracks of your heart, when joy begins to flow again… pause and give thanks. Because God’s faithfulness is as certain as the rain.

“He makes rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
He turns the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs.”
— Isaiah 41:18

It’s been dry.
But the rain is coming.
And when it does, it will be beautiful.

~Jillene