Dusk in Venice by Claude Monet

Herman Melville wrote, “It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation.” We tend to have a bias in our culture against imitation. Imitation often equates in our minds to fake. For example, imitation leather or imitation fur. Imitation may connote something being cheap or of lesser value. The idea that originality is always better is not always the case. In fact, imitation can be an amazing tool for growth.
 
When I was a candidate for ministry I had to write a statement of faith that would be reviewed by a committee of my denomination. I’ll never forget that some of the committee members were put off by the fact that my statement of faith read and felt like classic statements of faith, such as the Apostle’s creed. I was criticized for not being more creative. That’s probably one of the only times I have ever been criticized for a lack of creativity. Frankly, I took it at as a complement and thought their comments said more about them than me. Imagine being in an art class and the instructor with obvious displeasure telling you, “You paint like Rembrandt.” or “That work looks like it came right out of Monet’s studio.”
 
I was prompted to think about these things this morning as I did my devotional reading and came across these verses:

“You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7

“For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews.” 1 Thessalonians 2:14

Paul in other places did not only acknowledge believers for begin imitators, but actually encouraged them to be. In the scriptures above Paul actually notes three different ways the Thessalonians imitated good models. They imitated Paul and the other disciples who had brought them the gospel. They imitated the Lord and other churches.
 
Whom do you admire for his or her faith? How can you imitate his or her lifestyle, speech, behaviors, or disciplines? If you admire someone, but don’t know the habits they keep, you may want to invite them to lunch and learn more. If you know someone with bottomless biblical knowledge, then ask how he or she studies and follow that example for awhile. If you know someone with an amazingly powerful prayer life, ask about prayer practices.
 
Imitation is a very effective way to grow as a disciple. You will eventually become that which you imitate if you practice long enough.
 
 

Image from Ozyman

Dry times, times of feeling a loss of God’s presence, are inevitable in the Christian walk.  All of the historic saints expressed in their writings periods of longing to hear God’s voice and to feel God’s peace.  Spiritual droughts occur for a variety of reasons.

• Neglect of the relationship: If you are not investing time in drawing near to God don’t be surprised if God seems hard to find.  God hasn’t moved, but your priorities, time and attention may have pushed a gap into your awareness of God’s presence.
• Neglect of duty: I find God to be strangely silent when he has given me direction and I have failed to do it.  This dynamic seems particularly true around the area of asking for guidance.  Imagine your doctors response if you came back to her month after month asking for advice on how to lose weight, but you never tried the diet she has repeatedly recommended.
• On the backside of intensive growth: Ironically, it is not unusual for people to experience a loss of presence following a time of excessive presence or growth.  I wonder if God doesn’t back away a bit to allow us time to integrate intense spiritual experiences.  Or it may be that our “normative” experience of God suddenly seems very shallow and lacking after a spiritually high period.  Either way, don’t be surprised if this type of drought happens to you.  It is very normative and won’t last for every.
• Mystery.  Some times you just won’t know.  These are the hardest times to endure.  These are also the times of greatest faith.  Believing is easy when God seems in every conversation and on every street corner.  Being faithful is not so easy when God seems strangely absent.

SO HOW DO YOU MAKE IT THROUGH THE DROUGHT?

1. Stay rooted in God’s Word. Psalm 1 says, “but his delight (a righteous person) is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.  He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and in whatever he does, he propers.” (Psalm 1:2-3)  God’s Word will continue to feed and sustain you even in dry times.  Though you may read and feel nothing as you read continue to read it is sustaining you.
2. Remember what God has done in the past.  Take time to reflect on who God is and what God has done in the past.  Summon to mind times when God was undeniably real to you.  I find this can trigger me into a place of greater awareness.
3. Purge. Sometimes we just get in spiritual ruts.  I suspect you have activities and possessions that have no spiritual value.  They keep your priorities ensnared.  Let go of these things and replace them with something dedicated to God.
4. Attend to spiritual loose ends. Look for direction that God has given you that you have failed to take.  Then attend to it.  Address areas of complacency in unfaithfulness.  That’s a euphemistic way of saying, “Deal with sins you are ignoring!”
5. Immerse yourself.  I find that reading spiritual classics can often inspire me.  If you have the time go on a spiritual retreat and saturate yourself with prayer and worship.
6. Acceptance. If none of these suggestions seem to have any positive effect, then you may just need to accept that where you are right now is where God wants you.  Stop asking God why you are in a drought and look for what God wants you to do while you are there.  In short, trust and obey.

Dry times will pass.  They are not always entirely bad times, but they certainly aren’t fun times.  Blessings to you as you weather life’s dry times.