Honeybees collect nectar and pollen from flowering plants. To put it in human terms, pollen is like protein and nectar is like carbohydrates. Bees need both pollen and nectar to be healthy and for the hive to thrive.
At certain times of the year, the bees experience a shortage of nectar-producing flowers. The shortage of nectar-producing flowers is known as a dearth. Winter is the longest period of dearth for honeybees, but shortages occur at other times of the year as well. Some areas of Mississippi experience a dearth from late June through August.
The shortage of nectar-producing flowers is known as a dearth.
The longer I keep bees and watch their habits, I find similarities between the bees and my life. I have times in my life when I go through a dearth. I realize that a dearth for a person and a believer in Christ can be many things, but specifically I’m thinking now of a spiritual dearth. I have those seasons of my life where it seems God is speaking and moving greatly. It’s like I’m just along for the ride. Other times, I have those moments where it seems like I don’t hear from God or He doesn’t seem as close.
What should a person do when he or she experiences a spiritual dearth? I believe the same strategy a honeybee uses applies to us as well. Let me explain.
What should a person do when he or she experiences a spiritual dearth?
The honeybee knows, by God’s design, that a dearth like winter is coming. The honeybee will work intensely to provide the resources for itself and the colony before the dearth ever arrives. Once the dearth arrives, the honeybee can continue to work and to live off of the excess that it produced earlier. The honeybee doesn’t wait out the dearth in the hive! The honeybee will go and search for resources for the hive even during a dearth. Eventually the dearth will end and the honeybee colony can resume its normal collection of pollen and nectar.
The person who is going through a spiritual dearth may do something similarly. (1) Remember that God will never leave you nor forsake you. I would encourage you to think through the times when you’ve experienced something similarly and God provided for you. (2) We must live by what God has already revealed and provided. If you’re going through a time when you’ve been praying for God to speak to you, and He hasn’t. You should continue to do what He told you last. (3) You must continue to seek the Face of the Lord. Don’t give up on God; continue to read your Bible and to pray each day.
