The Bible describes a withered condition, where joy has withered away. Man, we need plenty of joy in our life, need to laugh more, laugh more and have more fun and connect with people. Enjoy the life of God. It's not a hard life, it's a great life walking with God - but what has withered it up? Has fear withered it up? Fear will shrink the gifts of God in our life. Fear always shrinks the gifts of God. Paul wrote to Timothy, he said Timothy, you're withered up man! I've put a gift into your life - stir the gift up! God hasn't given you a spirit of fear. Fear can wither your life and your gift. Bitterness, when you get hurt by someone, you don't resolve it and you let it sit there and it sits there chugging away in your heart. It withers away the life. You know, financial pressures can wither away the life, you end up being burdened.
I was with a guy the other day in Promise Keepers, he come up to me after the meeting. He was in bad shape really and he just kept telling me everything, I mean everything you can imagine seemed to be a problem with the guy, and now he was quite sick. His health had gone, his job had gone, his finances had gone, everything had pretty well gone; but as he talked a little bit more, I kept hearing him saying that everything good has been taken away from him. I thought that's interesting, talk to me more about that. Then I began to realise, you've got big walls in your heart, and the more I listened to him and asked the questions, the more I realised - in the end I said: I recognise what your problem is. I said: you've never got over your dad abandoning you at ten years old, walked out of the home, left you there; and He said you were close to him, and your life withered at that point when you had that trauma in your life, and you have never been the same.
I said: I've listened to what you've been saying to me, and it seems to me like everything good in your life has been taken away. I said: actually there was one good thing taken away, and that was your father, and you've never gotten over it. You actually are believing that's going to be your future. You need to deal with this thing in your heart. As I began to talk to him he just stood there, tears started to come down, first time he'd cried in years. As he began to feel God start to touch him, we gave him some help; and of course he was stuck with the whole thing of money, had little money coming in. I said listen, even if you haven't got much money coming in, don't think like a poor man. Don't stay withered like in poverty. I said: listen, just take one dollar. Don't worry about people telling you what you've got to give and don't give. Take one dollar, and hold it in your hand and pray over it, and say: God, it's all I've got, it's my life; and put it in the offering. I said: when you do it, don't be ashamed. God's looking for your heart, not looking for how much money you're giving. He's looking for what's in your heart. I said: when you do it, break out of all this guilt and condemnation that everyone's put on you. Just hold it before the Lord, and say: God, I give it with joy. I said: then take an hour of your life, and give it to someone. You'll be blessed; and stop saying that you have nothing in life. You're withered by your heart attitude and thinking, not by life itself. He just walked away, and he was just kind of like a different person.
So what got a hold of you and withered you? What's stolen the good life of God away from you? That's the thing you've got to answer, because no one can answer it for you. The Holy Ghost can show you, if you're withered; if you've lost something of the life, vibrancy, your enthusiasm and passion for God, if something has dried up inside, then say: God, I want to get my life back again.