Drought or Desert?

To be in ministry is to face obstacles.

Easy ministry isn’t effective. Good ministry is difficult.

It’s important to understand the difficulty because all difficulty isn’t created equal. 

Some challenges are temporary, like a rough season of low engagement/attendance or a difficult transition with staff or volunteers. Other challenges feel unending, stretching on like an unrelenting wilderness.

A dry spell in ministry, when enthusiasm wanes and momentum slows, is frustrating but usually short-lived. A drought, though painful, eventually breaks with time, perseverance, and prayer.

Some challenges, though, are more than just seasons; they’re deserts. These are the times when waiting for rain is futile, and survival depends on adaptation, perseverance, or movement. In moments like this, the temptation is to wait—wait for revival, for growth, for something external to shift.

But deserts don’t change on their own. Waiting is not a strategy. In some seasons, faithfulness isn’t in the waiting. Something has to change. In desert seasons, faithfulness is in the courage to move. 

God knows this. The question is, do we? In these seasons, God doesn’t call leaders to sit and hope for rain. He calls us to take action in faith. If you find yourself in an existential desert, it is important to consider two options:

1. Change Yourself

Sometimes the wilderness isn’t a punishment. It’s a place of refinement. Moses spent 40 years in the desert before God called him to lead. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness before launching his ministry. What if God is using this dry season to develop something in you?

• Are there new leadership skills to learn?

• Do you need to grow in resilience, wisdom, or creativity?

• Are there fresh ways to serve and lead that you haven’t explored yet?

• Perhaps the problem isn’t just external. It’s an opportunity for you to grow.

2. Change the Environment

Some deserts are not places where you’re meant to stay. Paul didn’t stay where the gospel was consistently rejected—he shifted his strategy and went where the Spirit led.

• Maybe the ministry model needs adjusting.

• Perhaps the team needs to be re-engaged differently.

• Maybe it is time to walk out of the room, re-enter, and consider what someone new would keep, edit, and delete.

• Stubbornly waiting for a desert to become lush isn’t faith. It’s fear disguised as patience. God may be calling you to move.

In either case, faith in dry seasons isn’t passive. It is active, Spirit-led trust. Don’t settle for mere survival in the desert. You serve a God who brings water from rocks and makes a way through wastelands. Seek his wisdom. Try something new. Move forward in faith.

Created by NPM Staff Culture