When Our Well Seems Dry
T. F. Tenney

"Why did God let this happen?"
•	Whenever you cannot track God, you must trust Him. 
•	Often we resist the very circumstances that God has sent to develop us. 
•	We have to learn to separate circumstances from our relationship with God. 
•	Paul said nothing is authorized to separate us from the love of God. 
•	This does not mean we will always be kept from sickness, financial problems, or disasters. 

Trusting in God
•	Job determined no circumstance would ever interfere with his relationship with God. 
•	We must be able to step back and let circumstances stretch us. 
•	Our character must match our manifestation. 
•	"Maturity of character exhibits three basic qualities: a heart after God, a heart devoted to service toward men, and a heart of integrity within himself." 
•	God considers them so important that in His sovereignty, He uses circumstances to develop and enhance these characteristics. 

Solitude
•	God, at times, chooses to place potential leaders in isolation. 
•	Solitude is an instrument of God in the lives of called men and women.
•	John the Baptist was in the desert until the time of his showing unto Israel (Luke 1:80). 
•	Moses lived in an isolated desert for many years before coming forth as the leader of Israel (Exodus 3). 
•	King David spent his younger years on the lonely task of tending sheep (I Samuel 16). 

Seasons of Silence in God
•	Many people cannot cope with this vacuum. 
•	Let a solitary atmosphere minister to your spirit. 
•	The circumstance of solitude in your life is an opportunity for you to explore the depth of your spirituality. 

Faithfulness in Silence
•	We should not minimize the situations in which we find ourselves. 
•	We should be diligent at whatever our hands find to do. 
•	God uses circumstances: solitude, obscurity, and monotony to build character. 
•	God is never in a hurry in developing inner qualities. 
•	God will pull the young man from the desert place and put him in the limelight when the timing is right, if it is His sovereign will. 

Going Through Purification
•	The purifying process is never pleasant. 
•	It always comes in "layers." 
•	We get through one process and then another. 
•	He allows us to be in tough places to squeeze out the things not like Him. 

Back to Basics
•	It is dangerous to get away from the basics of God.
•	Sometimes it is necessary for God to take us back to the basics. 
•	What Jeremiah was about to learn was that God sometimes works in circles.
•	Israel marched around the same mountain for forty years until they learned what God wanted them to learn. 
•	It was the difference between knowing and learning. 

Be Still and Know
•	We are often drawn by the desire to make something happen, but most of our walk with God is routine. 
•	The power of routine is what saved Daniel. 
•	He did not pray more in crisis; he did not pray less in ease. 
•	His prayer life neither sped up nor slowed down the process.

Mostly Walking
•	Often our days are spent in consecrated plodding. 
•	That is not to say there will not be those high-flying, ecstatic experiences. 
•	Where you end up is with the very basic skill of walking with God.

He Has a Plan
•	Too often we think the will of God is an elusive thing. 
•	Sometimes He wants to make His will known to us more desperately than we claim to be seeking His will.
•	God will always give us the best if we leave the choice to Him. 

The above article, “When Our Well Seems Dry” was written by T. F. Tenney. The article was excerpted from Tenney’s book, Water from an Old Well.

The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.