When You're in a Dry Season (how God brings breakthrough) | Season 9 Ep 7

We open 1 Kings 18 and walk with Elijah through a season of drought, a dangerous assignment to face King Ahab, and a small sign that turns into a storm. The journey isn’t neat. That tension—acting on God’s promise while the sky stays empty—speaks straight to anyone waiting for change. This is soul work for anyone wrestling with waiting, courage, or spiritual clarity.

We talk about what real obedience looks like when fear is loud, why the blessing is found in alignment rather than outcome, and how the voice of God often meets those who make room to listen. 

We explore how to notice small signals, interpret them with wisdom, and move when God moves. If you’re hungry for biblical encouragement, spiritual resilience, and practical steps to wait well, this conversation offers a path from scarcity to storm.

If this message meets you in a dry season, share it with a friend who’s watching the horizon too. Subscribe for more midweek encouragement, leave a review to help others find the show, and tell us: where do you see your “tiny cloud” today?

Transcript

Welcome And Midweek Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey all, thank you for joining us here at Grab the Faith, where we try to grab the faith and run with it. Join us as we try to learn a little more, grow a little more, and live a lot more. I'm your host, Bobby Gentry Goodwin. Stay tuned for this week's episode. Good morning, good morning. I'm Bobby Gentry Goodwin and welcome to another Wednesday Word of the Week. Um, and I hope you got your seatbelts on this morning. I do. I do. And I thank you for um just tuning in and studying with me just for a brief minute. So as we get ready to start our hump day, let us tune into the word of God and see what he has for us this morning. And so we're here another week, praise God. One more week before Thanksgiving. I don't know if you're excited about it, but I'm excited about it. I'm excited about all the food I'm gonna eat and eat and eat and eat and all the people that I'm going to see. Because it's a great time of family, it's a great time of getting together and celebrating the goodness of the Lord with your loved ones. So we're gonna jump right in this morning because I realize I've been a little long, so we're gonna hit it and quit it, okay? That distracted

Setting The Scene: Kings And Consequences

SPEAKER_00 1:28

me, but we're gonna hit it and quit it today. Our Bible study, we're gonna be couching in the book of Kings, couching in the book of First Kings, and it's an exciting book, lots going on in this book, uh, first and second kings. There's so much going on, but we're just gonna take a little passage of scripture, even the title of the book, Kings, reminds me of a lot of things, and one of those things being God's faithfulness, because sometimes we be all out in left field, and sometimes the Lord have to bring us in. And this happens a lot during the book of Kings. You know, many of us here, and we've been standing on the idea of no kings. There's been no king's parades here, no king's parades, there, no king's parades, and these no king's parades stand on the idea that there are no kings in America. You may want one, you may act like one, but we don't we don't want one because America simply does not have a king. Well, listen, in this book, this is not going on, okay? Where we find ourselves in the Bible, there was once no kings, absolutely no kings. There was God and his people, but these people, stiff-necked people, wanted to be like everybody else. So these chosen people, God's people, even though they didn't have no king, they wanted a king. They wanted someone to rule over them. So they asked for a king. And listen, be careful

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 18

SPEAKER_00 3:00

what you ask for. Because what sometimes what you ask for is what you're gonna get. So these people wanted a king. And they this lesson tells me something already that sometimes we can want things that's not best for us. Sometimes we can want things that are not good for us, sometimes we just gotta go with what God has aligned and set up for us, and that ain't even part of the lesson. But this lesson is about Elijah, and even the King Ahab wanted something that wasn't good for him. But listen, that's a whole nother lesson. These people, God's people, they got they got a king, and with that king, they got a couple of things they didn't ask for. They got division, they got you know the separation into the northern and the southern kings, they got idols that they were not supposed to have, they got ashraposes that they were not opposed to set up, they got worship that was not aligned with God. You know, very clear God has been. You are worship nobody else but him. Oh, that's a word that you ain't supposed to worship nobody else from him, even in this day and age where people are worshiping a lot of things. God is very clear to show us and to tell us you are not to worship anybody else but him. There is only one true God, and if you didn't know that, let me let me give you information today. There is one true God, and only he deserves worship. So these people wanted a king, they got a king, but along with the king, they got a lot of things that they didn't need or they didn't want, and that's where we find ourselves in our chosen text today, sitting with the prophet Elijah, coming against one of those kings, King Ahab, who was the eighth king of Israel and the most evil king that came before the nation, southern and northern. Okay, so let's tune into the word of God this morning. We're gonna go into a little prayer, and then we're gonna tune in and see what the Lord has for us this Wednesday. So we're gonna be couching it. If you have your Bibles, first King chapter 18, verses 1 through 2, and then verse it's chapter 18, verses 41 through 44, which says this later on in the third year of drought, the Lord said to Elijah, Go and present yourself to King Ahab, tell him that I will soon send rain. So Elijah went to appear before Ahab. Verses 41. Then Elijah said to Ahab, Go and get something to drink, to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming. So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face

Prayer And Themes Of Faithfulness

SPEAKER_00 6:20

between his knees. He said to his servant, Go and look out toward the sea. The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, I didn't see anything. Seven times Elijah told him, Go and look. Finally, the seventh time his servant told him, I see a little cloud about the size of a man's hand rising from the sea. Then Elijah shouted, Hurry to Ahab and tell him, climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don't hurry, the rain will stop you. And I'm just gonna, just for context, couch a little bit in chapter 18, verses 1 through 2 in the King James Version. And I'm gonna read it again. And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go show thyself unto Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth. Let's go to the Lord, Lord, in prayer. Father, thank you. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for how you speak to your people. Thank you for showing up when we need you. Thank you for being an ever-present help. Thank you for the will that you have placed over our lives. We thank you this morning, Lord God, because sometimes we don't see you, but we thank you that you're faithful and we know that you are there. Thank you, Lord, for sometimes we don't see you, we don't see the evidence, but thank you, God, that you're working behind the scenes. Thank you, God, that you know what we need, Lord God, and you give us purpose at the passage.

Drought, Waiting, And God’s Timing

SPEAKER_00 8:23

So, what's going on here in the passage? Elijah, a prophet of the Lord, God's child has received the word. God's child has heard from the Lord. And what did he say? There will be a season of drought. That happens in books and in chapter 17. The word of the Lord comes to Elijah and tells him, There's gonna be a drought. And he showed Elijah in that chapter. Go ahead and read it, that not only will there be a drought, but he showed his son how to weather the drought. He told him there's gonna be a hard time, but he showed him how to weather the hard time. And he took care of him in the hard time while he was waiting. In our text, the Lord told him that the drought was going to end. That's the text we're focusing on. See, God had told him there's gonna be a drought, and he took care of him in the drought. But in the text that we're couching in today, he's telling that there's an end. Listen, Saint, there is an end to your suffering. There is an end to your problem. Listen, I don't want to ever come on here and say that it is easy following God. I don't ever want to come on here and say there is easy in the suffering. Sometimes suffering is just that. It's suffering, it's hard, it's painful, it is very, very challenging. But listen, Saint, God, there is seasons, honey. The truth is there is an end to the suffering. That there is a winter season, but praise be to God. There is a summer, there is a spring where things is gonna spring forth and it ain't gonna look like it did yesterday. That's where we are in our text. God is telling his prophet Elijah, the rain is gonna come, that this drought is going to end. And listen, as I move on in this Bible study, I just don't want you to miss the meat on the bone. Not only does he tell him the drought is gonna end, but let's back up. He tells him, honey, the Lord speaks. The Lord speaks to his people, he speaks to his children. He wasn't talking to Ahab, he who was the king, he was talking to his son and telling him, listen, there is gonna be a drought, but there's gonna be an end to the drought. Don't miss the meat on the bones. If we sit with the Lord long enough, we're gonna hear some things. Now, in my experience, the Lord haven't been no chatty Kathy, he's not talking to me every day all the time. But praise God, he talks and he tells me some things, and not only does he tell me, he'll tell you. But listen, a lot of the times when I hear him speaking is when I'm checking for him, when I got my ear attuned to him, when I've been fasting, when I have been in prayer, when I've been in my word reading it for myself, or when he has an assignment for me, when he wants me to know something, he checks to my ear. But listen, I gotta be still enough to hear him, I gotta be looking for him, I gotta be attuned to him, and that's when I hear him. So be clear, saying the Lord speaks, and he wants to speak to you. Now I want to be clear. Sometimes he hid me out of the blue, blue,

Courage, Obedience, And Facing Ahab

SPEAKER_00 12:20

too, okay. But these are the other times when I hear him most strongly. So in our text, we find Elijah, God's son, receiving the word, a prophet of the Lord, which is what his assignment is, is to receive the word of the Lord and to give the word of the Lord. And I want to be clear about that. Because listen, if you are a believer, you know there's a song by Mary Mary that says, I'm a believer even though I never seen. If you are a believer, you done seen. If you are a believer, you have seen the hand of the Lord. You may not have seen him with your eyes, but you have seen him in your life. So listen, if you've seen him, you can believe. If you've seen him in your past show up in the thick of things, in your drought, when your winter has turned to summer, you can believe. But anyway, so Elijah receives this word and he stands on it. I'm rushing through. And he responds. He faces Ahab. Ahab wanted to kill Elijah, okay? And Ahab wasn't feeling Elijah. He didn't like Elijah, and he didn't want Elijah to be breathing. So, what was that like for Elijah? When the word of the Lord told him, go to Ahab. Whoa, Elijah knows that this Ahab, this evil king, wants him harmed. Him and his and his Janky wife, okay? They wanted to harm. But what does Elijah do in this text? He follows the word of the Lord. That's a whole word, saints. That sometimes the Lord is gonna tell you something to do that's difficult, that's not easy, and you're gonna have to face your fears. I'm on here right now facing my fears. Why? Because the Lord gave me a word. Listen, you're gonna have to face your fears. You're gonna have to stand in a place that the Lord has placed you with courage, with boldness, just like Joshua, to get the job done. Today I'm here to remind you when the Lord speaks, respond. No matter what you're up against, no matter what it looks like, when he tells you to do something, Saint, do it. Because the blessing is in the obedience. And that's wonderful about this text. Not only do the Lord speaks, not only does he want to speak to you, but not only does that, there's blessing in obedience. We're gonna have to face some things, but if we stand with him, we stand strong, faith. So the word of the Lord came to Elijah, he responded. But listen to this: the text says, after many days, the word of the Lord about the drought came. That means Elijah had to sit in this drought for many days, listening for the Lord, checking for the Lord, wanting the Lord to show up. After many

Keep Looking: The Seventh-Time Cloud

SPEAKER_00 15:45

days, he had to sit and wait. Now, I don't know if that speaks to you, but that speaks to me. Because listen, I've waited on the Lord time and time. Where are you? When are you coming? When will I see your hand? When will you do something about? I've waited, but I'm not waiting on anybody. I'm waiting on the Lord, one who is faithful, one who can be trusted, one who I can believe. And Elijah, not only did he sit in the drought, it wasn't comfortable, he's being fed by raven, he's sitting in the drought, afraid, sitting by a brook, and the brook dries up. He's sitting waiting on the Lord, and look at the Lord's faithfulness. He comes and tells him the drought is gonna be over. Sometimes, saints, we simply not gonna be comfortable. Oh, it's so many things in this text I could get to, but I'm not trying, I'm trying to go this morning. But so many things we're not gonna be comfortable, and we're gonna sit and wonder, did I hear what I hear? Oh, I'm tired of waiting, Lord. We're gonna sit in those places of drought where the book feels like it's drying up, honey. And we got to wait on the Lord to tell us the next step. Y'all ever been in that place? Walking through a season, waiting on God. I'm here to tell you this morning that he will show up as long as you're waiting with him. But the thing that we leave with this morning is the Wednesday word of the week, because we also find in this text that the after he received the word, after he waited, after he responded, after he received another word, he looked. He looked for God to show up. He told his servant, go look. The servant came back to him and said, I don't see nothing. Elijah didn't say, Okay, you don't see nothing. Well, stop looking. He told him to look again. Once he received the word that there was going to be a shift, he looked, he looked for the hand of God. Time in and time, seven times the text says, He looked and he found the evidence. So as we come to a close, my Wednesday word of the week for you to run with this week is look, look for

Final Charge: Look For God’s Hand

SPEAKER_00 18:30

God's faithfulness, look for his hand, look for that tiny cloud that the Lord is faithful to show us. Look for the evidence of his goodness. We know you still in the drought. We know you still waiting on the Lord. We know you received a word, but what are you looking for? Are you looking for the evidence that he is not gonna show up? Are you looking for the evidence that he will? Look, Saint, pay attention, pay attention to the atmosphere the Lord has put forward, and I promise you, just like in this text, he is faithful to show his mighty hand. But keep looking and watch what the Lord will do. Because I promise you one thing this morning, he has the final say. May God bless you and may he keep you this morning.