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Go and tell Hezekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: ‘I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.’ ”

Isaiah 38:5

When we are experiencing God’s blessing, it is easy to believe that God knows what is best. But when He allows sorrow in our lives, we may be tempted to question His wisdom. The Lord told King Hezekiah that his life was coming to an end. God advised him to prepare himself for death and to make arrangements to turn over the kingdom. Instead, Hezekiah pled for his life, begging God to spare him from death (Isa. 38:3). God loved the righteous Hezekiah and, in His grace, granted him an additional fifteen years to live. During those added years, Manasseh was born, and he eventually succeeded Hezekiah as king of Judah. Manasseh, who reigned for fifty-five years, was the most evil king ever to rule over Judah (2 Kings 21:1). 

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“Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.”

Job 38:2–3

Job was a righteous man who, from a human perspective, did not deserve to suffer. He lived a blameless life and followed God’s laws to the letter. As he was experiencing great tribulation, Job cried out in frustration and questioned why God was allowing him to suffer. God came to Job in the form of a whirlwind with His answer and asked him several sobering questions: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Where were you when I set the oceans in their place? Where were you when I put the constellations of stars in position?” God’s questions humbled Job and reminded him that his own wisdom did not begin to compare with God’s. 

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“Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

Exodus 32:32

Prayer is not designed to change God; it is designed to change us. Prayer is not calling God in to bless our activities. Rather, prayer takes us into God’s presence, shows us His will, and prepares us to obey Him. Moses climbed Mount Sinai and spent forty days communing with God. God showed him the wickedness of the Israelites (Exod. 32:7). Moses had not known their desperate condition; nor had he realized the imminence of God’s judgment upon them until God revealed it to him. As God made Moses aware of all that was at stake, Moses felt the same compassion for the people that God felt. 

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To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.

Titus 1:15

Your heart’s condition will be expressed through your life. It will be evident by your attitudes, your words, and your behavior. Jesus said that you can clearly see others only when your own eyes are unobstructed (Mark 6:42). If your vision is hindered by sin, you will not look at others properly. If your heart is pure, you will approach life without malice. You will not question the motives of everyone around you; you will not doubt the truth of everything others tell you; you will not look for fault in others. Instead, you will look for the good in others, finding what is praiseworthy. 

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Here are 43 quotes from Pastor Johnny Hunt on leading through “dry seasons.”

1. If you’ve never been through a dry season. Hold on. It will one day come uninvited.
2. When I first got converted, I had never owned a Bible.
3. I made commitments in the early part of my life that I didn’t want to be mediocre.
4. David experienced times when God seemed distant.
5. You may not finish long but you can finish strong.
6. It is not your duration of life but your donation of life.
7. If you’re experiencing long periods of dryness, I must examine my life.
8. Is there any unconfessed sin between my Lord and I?
9. Am I physically unprepared?
10. Stress is a silent killer.
11. Sometimes you try too much.
12. Sometimes you have stress or burn out simply from routine.
13. Sometimes there are lack of margins in our life.
14. When the first sign of burnout appears, it’s time for a break.
15. Pastors are expected to lead even when the desire to do so is challenged.
16. Being an entrepreneur, everything you initiate arrives on your task list.
17. 24% of our best leaders felt secure in their faith but spiritually dry.
18. Spiritual exhaustion doesn’t come from sin, but service. – Oswald Chambers
19. Remember your soul is satisfied in environments where your soul engages eternity. – Boyd Bailey
20. You have no idea where God wants to take you, so be obedient.
21. The day you die should be more celebrated than the day you were born.
22. If I could stay awake 24-7 and comprehend God, it is beyond my capacity to comprehend all God is doing.
23. You can’t estimate what God is doing through you.
24. It’s not my duty to convince the people to believe. It’s my duty to be convinced I believe.
25. We preachers never prepare to give a boring sermon.
26. It is not the truth I know but the truth I obey that makes the greatest difference.
27. God’s work at times is incomprehensible.
28. You may grow weary in the work but never grow weary of the work. But sometimes you can’t know the difference between the two.
29. Most people who get in trouble, it’s not a blowout. It’s a slow leak.
30. Emotional emptiness leads to chronic exhaustion.
31. A leader can make some of the worst decisions of his life during emotional emptiness.
32. Some of the regrets of my life were allowing daily decision-makers to make decisions I should have made.
33. Sometimes you go through such a difficult time that you wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemy but wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
34. The biggest drain on your reserves is managing difficult people. Politics in the workplace.
35. It was in the prime of David’s life he had most of his difficulties.
36. How do you find time with your family as a pastor? The same way you do.
37. Fight back. It is always too soon to quit.
38. Recruit others to help you emotionally.
39. Find a new mission that renews your passion and creates meaning in life.
40. Help always comes in incremental increases.
41. God, with what time I have left, let me carve out the priorities.
42. The single greatest platform God has ever given me is First Baptist Woodstock. Mentoring young men to preach the Gospel is a big priority to me.
43. When I was at a difficult time in my life, the only thing in ministry I did was touch poverty. I had to touch people in a worse position than I was in.