Embrace the Desert
When Brent resigned from his first church, I don't think we knew the next step. We just knew it was time to leave. That was in August. Five months later we moved to Fort Worth for Brent to finish college.
During those five months before we moved, we just visited a few different churches around our town. I actually remember the theme of a sermon from one of those Sundays. It was the first Sunday in December. The pastor spoke about how sometimes God sends you into the desert. I wish I could remember the points because his theme made an impression on me. I always sort of thought you got to the desert by yourself ....sort of like the Israelites did. You know, you make one or twenty mistakes and somehow after a golden calf and smashed commandments, you wind up in the desert complaining, remembering the "good, old days" and hoping you'll stumble upon the way out.
There are plenty of people talked about in the Bible who flee to desert or are sent to the desert. So there must be something good about being the desert. For this post, when I speak of a desert time in life, it applies to a time where your life is dry and your communication with God is almost zero. You may not have excitement about God and obeying Him; you are just doing everyday things because that's what you do. (and maybe you are running from God or maybe your actions did bring you there.)
Hagar, Moses, the Israelites, and Elijah. John the Baptist and Jesus. All people who went to the physical desert for some reason or another. Hagar, Moses, and Elijah went there because they were afraid and running away from someone (basically to save their lives!) The Israelites were under punishment and wondered 40 years. --let's back up -- the trip to Promised Land should have take eleven days! E-LE-VEN! DAYS! Just let that sit for a moment! ............. alright, moving on! (and the Israelites didn't stay in the desert - they did eventually make it to their land)
John the Baptist lived in the desert. He left the desert when it was time to begin preparing the people for Jesus. His meals consisted of locusts and honey. Just remember that the next time you want to complain about what you have to eat! (maybe there were a few more items on his menu, but we don't know!) Jesus was sent into the desert for 40 days to be tempted. After the 40 days, Jesus began His ministry.
One thing about the desert: God is always in the desert. He meets you there. He met Moses in a burning bush and changed his whole life's path. He met Hagar, a slave running away from Abraham's wife. He gave her a promise and told her to go back. He reminds us with her story that God SEES us. He met Elijah in desert by providing for his physical needs and giving him rest. As Elijah leaves the desert, God gives him incredible strength and he heads to a mountain to hear God speak in a whisper.
I am assuming that God prepared John the Baptist for his life's work in the desert and well, Jesus was God in the flesh in the desert and He defeated temptations. But Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, so there you go.
((Sometimes you may not even know you are in a desert. I think our hearts crave the presence of God. We are super thirsty for it. Which is why we find a million golden calves take His place. We get confused and lose sight of what's real and exchange our hearts for gold we can see. Sometimes it takes being around people who are saturated and wringing wet with God to realize we are empty and dry. I hope I never forget this experience at a small conference I attended one year. By small, I mean there maybe 20 women, probably less. The first night, one of the ladies brought her guitar and led us in worship by a fireplace. I don't even know if I sang. It was pure, true, and holy. It had been a long time since I had been somewhere that God was the focal point and the audience of worship. I just sat and listened. I remember feeling like my heart started beating again while she played and sang. The worship was full of life. Full of God's presence. That is what we want: to be full of God's presence and surrounded by Him. To be in a place were every detail of our lives is known and yet we are fully accepted and loved. To be in a place where God is the only audience of worship. That's what we were created for and that is where are our hearts are the most at home. ))
After leaving the desert, the people above experienced life in a new way and did some really amazing things. Most of the time that amazing thing is just being with God daily as you go about the ordinary, but you are changed. Hagar may not have lead a nation like Moses, but she obeyed God and went back to serve Sarah and raise her child. God has different purposes of all of us. He uses desert time to prepare us for what is next. Maybe we can grow in the desert times and after that comes a time of extreme fruit producing.
The desert time will not be wasted. Remember God is there. He has a new path for you. Look for it. If you can't find it, wait and keep communicating with God because your life depends on it. If you miss a day or two, start the next day. Every morning He has new mercies ready. He isn't going to leave you there, He has a specific purpose for you. You can trust Him.
**I am not speaking of the events or happenings in the past that may need to dealt with in your life in order move forward. Somethings are not easily forgotten and you may need time to work thru them and in some areas in your life it may be wise and necessary to seek a professional counselor for further help.
During those five months before we moved, we just visited a few different churches around our town. I actually remember the theme of a sermon from one of those Sundays. It was the first Sunday in December. The pastor spoke about how sometimes God sends you into the desert. I wish I could remember the points because his theme made an impression on me. I always sort of thought you got to the desert by yourself ....sort of like the Israelites did. You know, you make one or twenty mistakes and somehow after a golden calf and smashed commandments, you wind up in the desert complaining, remembering the "good, old days" and hoping you'll stumble upon the way out.
There are plenty of people talked about in the Bible who flee to desert or are sent to the desert. So there must be something good about being the desert. For this post, when I speak of a desert time in life, it applies to a time where your life is dry and your communication with God is almost zero. You may not have excitement about God and obeying Him; you are just doing everyday things because that's what you do. (and maybe you are running from God or maybe your actions did bring you there.)Hagar, Moses, the Israelites, and Elijah. John the Baptist and Jesus. All people who went to the physical desert for some reason or another. Hagar, Moses, and Elijah went there because they were afraid and running away from someone (basically to save their lives!) The Israelites were under punishment and wondered 40 years. --let's back up -- the trip to Promised Land should have take eleven days! E-LE-VEN! DAYS! Just let that sit for a moment! ............. alright, moving on! (and the Israelites didn't stay in the desert - they did eventually make it to their land)
John the Baptist lived in the desert. He left the desert when it was time to begin preparing the people for Jesus. His meals consisted of locusts and honey. Just remember that the next time you want to complain about what you have to eat! (maybe there were a few more items on his menu, but we don't know!) Jesus was sent into the desert for 40 days to be tempted. After the 40 days, Jesus began His ministry.
I am assuming that God prepared John the Baptist for his life's work in the desert and well, Jesus was God in the flesh in the desert and He defeated temptations. But Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, so there you go.
What I noticed recently were the verses in Isaiah 43:18-19. Did you see? Verse 19. God says He is making a way in the desert and providing streams in the wasteland. In Proverbs, God says to trust in Him and He makes our paths straight. We have to trust Him during the desert times. Trusting Him is the key to finding the path. In Isaiah 43:19, God even tells us, "now [the new path] springs ups. Do you not perceive it?" Do we look for new paths in the desert? Maybe we spend our days thinking about what we used to be doing and how things used to be. But God says no, don't do that. He is doing a new thing! So whether God takes us to the desert or we run to it for our lives, it seems deserts are about change. Even if we have some consequences for our actions, there is change to be learned.
The deserts are not always a curvy, wondering around for years - although sometimes they could be! But even then, God is there. He loves you and provides for you. He is teaching you. He is using you. He will not abandon you. God cannot be unfaithful to Himself and His own promises, you do not have to fear.
It seems deserts fulfill a specific purpose for you. In verse 18, God tells us to forget the former things and not to dwell on the past. If we spend our time looking back, we will never go anywhere.** We will just be wondering around with our depressive thoughts, complaints/regrets, and wishes. What are the former things we need to forget and bury in the sand? Where do you see things becoming new in your life? Do you want to see it? Sometimes we don't want to see it because we might not like change. So we become an ostrich. We need to find our faith and realize this new path God has for us is offering some things we need to keep becoming. Will we accept it and forget the past? Move on to the new, straight path.
God brings us back around to realizing our true need of Him in the desert places. In the desert places, we crave Him. Sometimes it might take awhile to realize the craving is for God. But once we do and we communicate with Him and read His Word, our hearts come to life again and we can be pliable and be open to see that new path and be willing to follow it.
It seems deserts fulfill a specific purpose for you. In verse 18, God tells us to forget the former things and not to dwell on the past. If we spend our time looking back, we will never go anywhere.** We will just be wondering around with our depressive thoughts, complaints/regrets, and wishes. What are the former things we need to forget and bury in the sand? Where do you see things becoming new in your life? Do you want to see it? Sometimes we don't want to see it because we might not like change. So we become an ostrich. We need to find our faith and realize this new path God has for us is offering some things we need to keep becoming. Will we accept it and forget the past? Move on to the new, straight path.
God brings us back around to realizing our true need of Him in the desert places. In the desert places, we crave Him. Sometimes it might take awhile to realize the craving is for God. But once we do and we communicate with Him and read His Word, our hearts come to life again and we can be pliable and be open to see that new path and be willing to follow it.
The desert time will not be wasted. Remember God is there. He has a new path for you. Look for it. If you can't find it, wait and keep communicating with God because your life depends on it. If you miss a day or two, start the next day. Every morning He has new mercies ready. He isn't going to leave you there, He has a specific purpose for you. You can trust Him.
**I am not speaking of the events or happenings in the past that may need to dealt with in your life in order move forward. Somethings are not easily forgotten and you may need time to work thru them and in some areas in your life it may be wise and necessary to seek a professional counselor for further help.
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