Joel Osteen - The Danger of Dry Places
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Joel Osteen warns that becoming «dry"—losing passion, joy, and hope due to disappointments, hurts, or fatigue—puts us in the enemy’s territory where he can manipulate us, but by controlling our thoughts, surrounding ourselves with uplifting people and environments, and staying in faith, we can arise from dry places and receive God’s abundant refreshing rain and new levels of blessing.
The Danger of Dry Places
I want to talk to you today about The Danger of Dry Places. It is easy to lose our passion for life. At one time we were excited—we looked forward to each day, we were believing for our dreams, we loved to laugh—but over time, if we are not careful and things have not turned out the way we thought, we will become dry.
When you are dry, life has lost its flavor. You smile, but there is no real joy behind it. You laugh with your friends, but it is not genuine. You act normal in front of people, but alone you are discouraged—you wonder what is wrong.
Sometimes we are dry because we are tired—the battles have taken longer than we thought. We can be dry because we have been hurt—somebody did us wrong. Instead of letting it go, we have held on to it. Some people are dry because they have the wrong perspective—they think their challenges are too big, that they will never work out.
But there is a problem with being dry—it does not just steal our joy, does not just affect our attitude, it is deeper than that. The Scripture says, «When an unclean spirit leaves a person, it walks through dry places seeking rest». When we are dry, we have stepped into the enemy’s territory—that is where he lives. Sometimes he does not have to come to us—we go to him.
When you feel the blahs, no passion, thoughts tell you, «Nothing good is in your future, you will never meet the right person, you will never get out of debt"—recognize that is the enemy trying to get you into his territory. When you are positive, hopeful, full of praise—that is God’s territory. The enemy cannot touch you—he cannot cross that line.
That is why he works overtime in our thought life—his goal is to get us down and discouraged. He knows when we are dry, we are giving him access—we are coming onto his field. That is where he has the right to control and manipulate.
Maybe you have a good reason to be dry—life has thrown you some curves, you do not see anything good up ahead. That is when you have to dig down deep and say, «No, I am not going to live discouraged, dragging through the day, focused on what is wrong. I know God is on the throne. I know He is bigger than these problems. I know His plans for me are for good. So I am going to live this day in faith, expecting His favor».
Control Your Thought Life
You have to take control of your thought life—that is where the battle is taking place. Thoughts will tell you things like, «You are a victim—life has not treated you fairly, your spouse does not love you like he should, that company does not appreciate you». If you let those thoughts play long enough, they will keep you from your destiny.
Paul said in the book of Acts, «I think myself happy». You can think yourself out of a dry place. You got into discouragement by thinking about how wrong something was, thinking about who hurt you, thinking about how things are not going to improve. You have thought yourself into defeat—now turn it around and start thinking yourself into victory.
«What God started in my life He is going to finish. No good thing will He withhold because I walk uprightly. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. What was meant for my harm, Lord, I want to thank You right now—You are turning to my advantage».
Get your mind going in the right direction—think yourself into joy, think yourself into a good mood, think yourself into a positive, faith-filled attitude. You cannot live on autopilot and just think whatever comes your way. If you do, negative thoughts will dominate—you have to be proactive.
Do not wait for thoughts of faith and hope to come—think them on purpose. If you will fill your mind with the right thoughts, there will not be any room for the wrong thoughts.
Uplifting Environments and People
When you feel the blahs, you need to get into an environment that is uplifting. Do not come home from work and sit in a dark room and watch sad movies, listen to sad songs, and think sad thoughts and eat sad foods and hang around sad people. Sad times five equals real sad.
Open up the windows—let some light in the room, put on some inspiring music. Maybe go outside and take a walk, exercise, get your endorphins kicking in. God has put certain hormones in us—when we activate them, they give us a boost and make us more passionate. They help to take away the negativity.
But it is easy to live a very sedentary lifestyle. You cannot override natural laws and expect to feel good. You need to exercise, you need proper sleep, you need to eat healthy. Practical things keep us from being passionate and having the vision and energy that we should.
When you are dry, it is important who you spend time with. You cannot afford to hang around other dry people—misery loves company. Find some friends that are happy, positive, energetic. You need people around you that brighten your day, that lift your spirits—people that are fun, that make you laugh.
Many times we gravitate to people that are like us—if we are discouraged, we find discouraged people; if we have addictions, we find others that have addictions. You need to spend time with people that have what you want—not that struggle in the same area.
If you have difficulties in your marriage, do not find someone in that same situation and sit around and talk about how bad your spouses are, how unfair life is. Talking about the problems—we live in the hurts—is only going to pull you down. It is not going to make things improve. The situation may not change, but you can change how you are responding.
Isaiah said, «Arise from the depression in which the circumstances have kept you. Rise to a new life». Sometimes we are waiting for God to change how we feel—"God, make me happy, God, cheer me up». The truth is God is waiting on us.
Arise and God Will Arise
You walked into that dry place—the good news is you can walk out of it. «I will rise from the depression, shake off the blahs, shake off what did not work out. This day is a gift from God». You may have some difficulties, but most likely there is a lot more right in your life than there is wrong.
Some people would be glad to trade places with you—they would love to have your life. Come out of that dry place—that is giving the enemy access. When you arise, what will happen is God will arise. When you come over to His side, you will get your joy back, your passion back.
You were not made to drag through the day—a discouraged, enduring life. You were made to enjoy life.
In the Scripture, David had seen God do amazing things—take him from a shepherd boy with no experience, no training, chosen to be the king. He defeated Goliath, became an overnight hero. He outlasted King Saul, took the throne. He led Israel from one victory to another—no greater leader than David.
You would think he would live on the mountaintop, never have a down day. That is not the case—we are all tempted to get dry. In Psalm 42, David was so discouraged he did not want to go on. Thoughts told him he had seen his best days, that the opposition was too big.
He made the mistake of believing those lies—he ended up in a dry place. He could have stayed there, lived defeated. Instead he said to himself, «Why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope in the Lord». He was saying, «I may feel discouraged, but I am not going to let feelings rule my life—I am not going to let these negative thoughts keep playing».
He talked to himself—"David, get your hopes up». He understood when we are dry, we have stepped into the enemy’s territory—we are giving him rights that he should not have. It is not that God has abandoned us, not that God stepped off the throne—it is the fact that we walked over to the other side.
Guard Your Mind Against Dryness
I am asking you to stay out of dry places—do not let your mind think of all the negative, relive everything wrong in your life. It may be true, but do not go there. The flesh loves to feel sorry for itself—think about what you did not get, how you were not raised right—just another day, I have got to drag through it.
As long as you think that way, you are going to live defeated. You have to do like David and make the decision, «I am coming out of the dry place». It starts by changing your thinking. God’s plans for you are for good—there are opportunities in your future bigger than you can imagine.
That sickness is not permanent—that financial difficulty is not how your story ends. That addiction is not going to hinder you your whole life—God has the final say. While you are waiting for Him to change things, why do not you thank Him that it is on the way? Why do not you be grateful for what is right in your life?
We have to guard our mind—it is easy to step over into a dry place. I am not saying that you are dry because you have not had any victories, you have not been successful. Like David, you may have seen God do amazing things—protect you, promote you, bring great people across your path. You can testify of the goodness of God, but that does not exempt us from becoming dry.
The discouragement test comes to every person—times when we are tired. We have won some victories, we have been our best, but we do not know if we can keep standing strong. If you will get your fire back, God is going to renew your strength. He is going to give you passion, energy, vitality like you have never seen. Your second wind is on its way.
God is about to breathe on your life in a new way. The victories you have seen in the past are going to pale in comparison to what God is about to do.
Psalm 68 says, «You sent an abundant rain, O Lord, to refresh the weary land». You may be weary—you fought hard, but it seemed like the discouragement just will not go away. God knows how you feel—He knows what you are up against.
You may not be able to walk out of the dry place on your own—do not worry, God is about to send an abundant rain to refresh you. He is going to make things happen that you could not make happen. You are going to see an abundance of joy, an abundance of strength, an abundance of health, an abundance of resources.
Those forces that held you back are being broken right now. The enemies you see today you will see no more. Now when you are tempted to be discouraged, turn it around: «Father, thank You for the rain that is coming—thank You for the healing, the favor, the breakthroughs, the right people».
Abundant Rain and Overflow
Get your hopes up—start expecting the abundant rain. That is the way our God is. He could have just said, «I am going to send rain to refresh the weary land». That would be good—we would be grateful—but notice the heart of God. He said in effect, «I am going to make the enemy pay for bringing the trouble. I am going to make him pay for making you dry—I am going to send an abundant rain, I am going to send more than enough, exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond».
Get ready for overflow—get ready, God is about to exceed your expectations. You are coming out of that dry place into more than enough.
But sometimes we want to be passionate, but the feeling is gone. We do not have the same drive and emotion like we used to have. We think something is wrong, but psychologists have discovered what they call the happiness curve.
Research shows most people are their happiest at twenty years old—from there it goes down till you are fifty. At fifty it starts coming back up—at seventy you are as happy as you were at twenty. But it does not stop there—it continues to rise. After seventy you are the happiest and most fulfilled than you have ever been.
That is what God said, «Your latter days will be better than your former days». But we see people that are going through a midlife crisis—they have no passion, they have burned out, they do not feel like going on. That is that fifty-year low—it is not unusual. You are not the only one that feels that way.
Do not give up on your dreams—do not go over to a dry place. Some of what you are facing is just natural rhythms of life, but the people that stay happy, the people that do not go down and get discouraged are the people that rule their thoughts, the people that stay full of hope, the people that know that God is still on the throne.
Do not believe those lies that you have seen your best days. You would not be alive if God did not have something amazing in front of you.
Stories of Overcoming Dry Places
I have a friend—he was raised in a low-income family here in Houston. His father worked as a yard man, mowing people’s lawns for thirty-one years. He died when the young man was thirteen. His mother raised nine children by herself. She worked as a maid at the Rice Hotel downtown.
She never learned how to drive—she would get up early in the morning, make her kids breakfast, get them off to school, then she would take the bus to work. She did not have a lot of money, but she had a lot of faith.
When times got tough and it did not look like they were going to make it, she would tell her children, «Do not worry—tomorrow will be better than today». They heard that over and over—she kept speaking faith into them. She knew God would make a way where they did not see any way.
Against the odds, the young man was able to attend college—he excelled in school. He went on to Harvard University and earned his law degree. He served twenty-seven years in the Texas House of Representatives. Today our friend Sylvester Turner is the mayor of Houston.
Mayor Turner’s mother was in a dry place—she could not help it, it was the hand she had been dealt—but she did not let the dryness get in her. If she would have lived defeated, complaining about how unfair life was, going to work with a sour attitude, he would not be the mayor.
When the odds are against you, you do not see how it can work out—instead of being discouraged, do like she did: keep reminding yourself, «Tomorrow will be better than today». That is not just being positive—that is what the Scripture says, «The path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter».
You have not seen your best days—God has good breaks already lined up in your future. If He showed you right now, you could not fathom it.
If somebody would have told Mayor Turner at thirteen—in a single-parent home, no father, mother raising nine children working as a maid—that one day you will go to Harvard, one day you will lead the fourth-largest city in America, one day you will stand before kings and presidents—he probably would not have believed it.
He could have thought, «Not me—that is impossible. I am in a dry place. I am in a limited environment—my obstacles are insurmountable». God is not limited by what you do not have—He is not limited by how you were raised, He is not limited by the opposition.
Mayor Turner kept that phrase playing over and over: «Tomorrow will be better than today». That was fuel for his faith, fuel for his dreams.
But sometimes we do not go to the dry place—the dry place comes to us. The key is do not let the dryness get in you. Stay full of hope—keep thanking God that the abundant rain is on the way, keep expecting things to change.
Have that attitude, «I know breakthroughs are coming, I know healing is on the way, I know promotion is coming, I know doors are going to open that I could not open». That is how you stay out of the dry place. You do not focus on how big the problem is—you focus on how big your God is.
Elijah’s Dry Place and God’s Refreshing
In 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah had just seen one of the greatest victories of his life—four hundred and fifty false prophets that worshiped the god Baal had come against him. Elijah called down fire from heaven, and they were all killed.
When the king’s wife Jezebel heard what happened, she was furious—she sent word to Elijah saying, «If I do not kill you by this time tomorrow, then I will kill myself». Elijah took off running for his life.
It is funny—he was not afraid of four hundred and fifty men, but he is scared to death of one woman. He ran as fast and as far away as he could. He dropped his assistant off at the city, traveled another day out into the desert, sat down under a tree.
He was so discouraged, so depressed—he did not want to live. He said, «God, I am done—take me on home». Here he had just seen the greatest miracle of his life—twenty-four hours later he was at his lowest moment.
Just because you have great victories does not mean you are not going to have to fight discouragement. You may have a great testimony, but there will be other tests.
Elijah was in the desert, in a dry place—so tired he fell asleep, hoping he would not wake back up. You would think God would say, «Elijah, what is wrong with you? Of all people, why are you discouraged? You have seen My power again and again—I am done with you».
God never gives up on us. While he was sleeping, an angel came, woke him up and said, «Elijah, get up and eat». There was a jar of water by his side and hot bread baking over some coals.
God is so good—He did not just bring him food, He cooked him a meal. Elijah ate that meal, fell back asleep. He was tired, exhausted—that is one reason he felt like giving up. You do not make good decisions when you are worn out.
The angel woke him up a second time—said, «Elijah, eat some more—there is a long journey up ahead». The first meal was for where he had been. The second meal was for where he was going.
God never just brings you out—He always gives you provision for what is ahead. You may have had your meal for where you have been, but get ready—a meal is coming for where you are going: new levels of talent, increase, favor, vision.
Elijah ran for forty days—ended up hiding in a cave on Mount Sinai. He was still afraid, discouraged, thinking his life was over. Verse 9 says the Lord came to him in the cave and said, «Elijah, what are you doing here?»
I do not believe God was just talking about the location—He was saying, «What are you doing here in your mind? Why are you looking at this situation from the wrong perspective? Why do you think this lady is more powerful than Me?»
Like Elijah, you may not see how your situation could work out—in your health, your finances, a relationship. You are worried, discouraged, losing sleep. God is saying, «What are you doing here? Do not you know I am still on the throne? I control the universe—I brought you out in the past and will bring you out in the future».
Elijah said, «God, I am discouraged because I am the only prophet alive. I am the only one that has not bowed down to Baal—now they are trying to kill me too». When you are discouraged, when you are in a dry place, it is easy to have an exaggerated view of your problem: «I am the only one that has all these bad breaks. I am the only one that has a boss that treats me like this».
God said, «Elijah, you are not the only one—I have seven thousand prophets that have not bowed down». Take the pressure off—you are not the only one facing what you are up against. People have been where you are—God brought them out. He is going to bring you out too.
God told Elijah to come out of the cave, come out of hiding, and stand on the side of the mountain. There was a huge windstorm like a tornado—so strong that rocks were flying through the air, dust so thick you could not see anything. That passed—then there was a great earthquake. The ground shook—rocks came tumbling down. That passed—there was a huge fire, burned everything around him.
That passed—then there was the sound of a gentle whisper, a still small voice. After all those huge signs, God had his attention. Elijah leaned in to listen closely—the voice whispered, «What are you doing here?» God asked him a second time, «Why are you depressed over a problem that is only temporary?»
Elijah thought his life was over—when in fact, in just a few days he met Elisha, a young man that he mentored. Elisha did twice as many miracles as Elijah. Elijah’s life was not over—he was about to come into double the impact.
Those thoughts that are telling you, «It is all downhill—you have too many problems, the obstacles are too big"—God is going to do for you what He did for Elijah. You are coming into double. That is why the enemy is trying to stop you so hard.
The windstorm Elijah faced, the earthquake, the fire—that was the enemy bringing his biggest challenges. But when it was all said and done, Elijah was still standing strong.
We see this principle with Jesus—He was in the desert in a dry place. He was tempted three times by Satan. The final temptation was the biggest—Satan said if you will bow down before me, I will give you all the kingdoms of the world. That was his last attempt to try to deceive Him—Jesus would not give in. Immediately an angel came to strengthen Jesus.
You may feel like you are in a desert, a dry place—the storms, the winds, the challenges have done all they could to stop you, but you are still standing. Jezebel did not get you—the windstorm did not harm you, the earthquake did not take you out. You stood strong—you passed the test.
Now, like with Jesus and Elijah, the angel is coming to strengthen you. Things are about to change in your favor. Negative situations are about to turn around. What you are praying about is on the way.
Now do your part—stay out of the dry places. Do not go over into the enemy’s territory. In your mind quit thinking about what is not going to work out. All those challenges you faced—that was the enemy doing his best, but his best was not enough.
Now you may be tired from fighting, but get ready—God is about to send an abundant rain to refresh you. I believe and declare breakthroughs are coming, healing is coming, promotion is coming, new levels are coming, the fullness of your destiny—in Jesus' name.