How To Stand In Faith In A Dry Season | Pastor Chip Radke & Revivalist Steve McKnight

Standing in Faith During Your Dry Season

Life has a way of taking us through seasons we never anticipated. Sometimes we find ourselves in a place where nothing seems to be happening, where our prayers feel unanswered, and where the promises we've been holding onto seem distant and uncertain. These are what we call "dry seasons"—periods when we can't see any visible results despite our faithfulness and effort.

But here's a profound truth that changes everything: The size of your praise is directly proportional to the magnitude of the hell God brought you out of.

If you've experienced a small trial, you might offer a small praise. But if you've walked through fire, if you've survived what should have destroyed you, if you've watched God intervene when there was no earthly help available—then your praise should shake the foundations. Because if it had not been for the Lord, where would any of us be?

The Promise of Seasons

Genesis 8:22 offers us a foundational promise: "While the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease." This verse establishes a divine rhythm—a guarantee that seasons will continue to cycle. There will be planting times and harvesting times. There will be cold and heat. There will be day and night.

What does this mean for us? It means that dry seasons are temporary. They are part of the natural order God established. Just as winter always gives way to spring, your current season of waiting will give way to a season of harvest.

Isaiah 44:3 brings even more encouragement: "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring." God sees your thirst. He knows your dry ground. And He promises not just a trickle, but floods of blessing.

The Faith You Already Have

Here's something that might surprise you: You don't need more faith. Romans 12:3 tells us that God has dealt to every person "the measure of faith." Not different measures—the same measure. We all received the same amount of faith.

The issue isn't about having more faith, bigger faith, or stronger faith. The issue is about consistency in using the faith you already have. It's about keeping your faith active in the field, continuing to employ it even when you see no results, refusing to abandon it when the enemy whispers that it's not working.

As believers, we don't live by feelings—we live by faith. Our trust in God has no correlation to our emotions or circumstances. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). This means that in the middle of a dry season, we hear before we see any results.

The Lesson of the Chinese Bamboo Tree

There's a remarkable story about the Chinese bamboo tree that perfectly illustrates faith during dry seasons. When someone plants a Chinese bamboo seed, they water it and fertilize it faithfully. After the first year—nothing. No sprout, no leaf, no visible growth whatsoever.

The second year, they continue watering and fertilizing. Still nothing.

The third year—same routine, same result. Nothing visible.

The fourth year—more watering, more fertilizing, more waiting. Still no visible growth.

But then, in the fifth year, something extraordinary happens. Between the fifth and sixth week of that fifth year, the Chinese bamboo tree grows 90 feet.

What was happening during those first four years? The tree was developing an extensive root system underground—an ecosystem spreading out in every direction, building the foundation necessary to support that explosive growth.

A root grows down first before we can see what comes up.

You may not see what's happening in your life right now, but God's word is not void. He's working beneath the surface, establishing roots, building foundations, preparing you for the breakthrough that's coming.

Four Ingredients of Every Season

Understanding the anatomy of seasons helps us navigate them with faith and wisdom. Every season contains four essential ingredients:

1. Appointment - Your season is appointed. It doesn't matter how much you resist it; if you're in it, there's a divine purpose. You can't rebuke winter by wearing shorts and flip-flops in the snow. Acknowledging your season is the first step to navigating it successfully.

2. Expectation - Every season demands expectation. Even if you can't expect specific outcomes, expect this: the season will pass. When your expectation exceeds your desperation, you position yourself for manifestation and visitation.

3. Patience - This is perhaps the hardest ingredient. Patience is defined as the ability to stand up under the circumstances you're currently in. Isaiah 40:31 promises that "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Waiting doesn't mean passivity—it means standing in faith while God works.

4. Fulfillment - The season will not last forever. There is an end, a completion, a harvest coming. What happens when earth's "not yet" meets heaven's "already done"? We call it a suddenly—that moment when everything shifts, when breakthrough comes, when the waiting transforms into receiving.

The Transition Phase

One of the most challenging aspects of seasons is transition—that period when you're moving from one season into another. In natural childbirth, there's a stage called "transition" that marks the passage from labor into delivery. It's often the most intense part of the process, and it's when mothers most commonly want to quit.

But here's the reality: by the time you enter transition, it's too late to quit. The mother and child are committed until the end. There's no turning back.

If you feel a compelling desire to tell God "I quit," you might actually be in transition. You might be closer to your breakthrough than you realize. If you try to stop God's process in the midst of transition, you risk aborting God's purpose for the process.

Standing Strong in Your Dry Season

So how do you stand in faith when everything feels dry? You put cotton in your ears against the naysayers. You refuse to let the drama stop you from getting to what's on the other side. You remember that not all storms come to disrupt your life—some come to clear your path.

You keep your eyes on Jesus, because when you look at Him during times of adversity, He keeps you above the natural. You cannot successfully walk through life without His help.

Your dry season is not the end of your story. It's the preparation for your harvest. Keep watering. Keep fertilizing. Keep believing. Your 90-foot growth is coming.