Large reservoirs in the western United States, like Hoover and Grand Coulee, have occasionally experienced what is called a “dead pool.” A dead pool means that there has not been enough rain to fill these reservoirs and activate the power generators inside the dam.
A dead pool is serious because it halts electricity production, the very purpose for building the dam in the first place. Millions of people rely on the electricity produced by these large reservoirs. A dead pool is a metaphor that can describe certain seasons in the Church.
The Lord promises to fill us to such a degree that our relationship with Him will overflow into the cities and nations where God is pouring out His Spirit. He does this when the Church’s spiritual water level has fallen to a critical level. We call this a revival.
Revival will always return the Church to the basics of the faith, not continue with quick fixes where our teaching and worship serve our needs, not the desires of the Lord.
When the Church reaches a dead pool status, only an outpouring of God’s Spirit can fill us to such a degree that we will express God’s power in profound ways. These seasons of revival will produce physical healings, a restoration of what has been lost, and a variety of spiritual gifts that will generate supernatural signs, wonders, and miracles.
Never view a dead pool season as a negative, focusing only on our lack of power. A dead pool season is a time when we should be looking up, beyond the lack of water in our spiritual reservoir. When the water level is low, the Lord wants His people to look up, where God’s Spirit is forming the clouds of revelation and revival. Living in that expectancy will shift our focus from our lack to the promises the Lord made to His people.
The words of the prophet Joel speak to such a time. “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth” (Joel 2: 28-30).
The clouds of God’s rain are forming in the heavens above us. They will pour out on us in the most desperate of times. When the water level is low, we will become hungry for what matters most to God.
Having a heart of expectancy is how God wants us to live. That expectancy will help us see a different future, not the continuance of the dead pool of our faith.
And, Jesus described the promise that believers would have an internal spring that bubbles up and overflows through the heart and mouth…….. in complement and contrast to OT saints who had no internal Spirit of God – and relied on external infilling!
May we overflow from BOTH sources.