Drought is a prolonged period of abnormally low rain leading to a shortage of water. Drought characteristically causes famine (because vegetation cannot grow, the ground is difficult to till and crops generally wither/fade). Food and power supply are in short supply during drought. The ecosystem is distorted, pollution, fires are more likely to happen and economic losses are huge. Hunger, sicknesses/diseases, deaths are also common. 

Obviously a period of drought brings untold hardship on men and women, livestock and vegetation diminish, efficiency is lost, unproductivity is paramount, the labors of ones’ hands are without reward, and there’s a constant hovering of the shadow of death. 

So when Elijah pronounced a season of drought to Ahab, it was more than just an absence of rain. Elijah knowingly or unknowingly ushered in sustained feelings  of exhaustion, desperation, despair, great suffering, desolation, feeling of helplessness and emptiness on samaria {1 Kings 17:1}.  The kind of feeling you get from laboring without wages, praying and waiting on the Lord without manifestation of expected results, from serving faithfully and yet seeming unrecognized and definitely appearing foolish, or investing resources without corresponding profit/success.

It is beautiful and quite encouraging to note that God sustained Elijah by the Brook Cherith and through the Widow of Zarephath just as we find He promised in Isaiah 58:1, but truth remains that there was massive destruction of lives and property, there was sadness, grief, and hopelessness. 

Why couldn’t Elijah call of the drought seeing its many negative impact on all, including himself? Pride? Nonchalance? Selfishness? Honestly, I know not, but I am glad God intervened, directed Elijah to return to Ahab in Samaria, and to await an end to the drought as he sends the rains. 

In this New Coming Season, in the New Coming Year, be encouraged and excited because The Lord has put an end to the drought in your life. Doesn’t matter what form it took, doesn’t matter how long it’s stayed around you, doesn’t really matter its intensity or the damages it’s caused before now.  The Word of The Lord is – The Drought is Over. The famine is gone. The Rains are here. 

Life is here. Growth is here. Productivity is here. Increase and profit are here. Healing is here. Your joy and fulfillment are here. Your wages are chasing after you. 

Halleluyah!