Several times we have traveled with the same couple. He always wants to head for the desert or the hottest driest place nearby. We laugh about this desire for the desert that the rest of us don’t want. There can be many, many miles between rest stops, fuel stops and water. In the desert you won’t find a cantina on every corner. Get off course just a little bit and you find that you are really in trouble.  The desert is no place to play.

And yet we find ourselves in deserts don’t we? We wonder what is happening and why we got there. We didn’t choose that route and yet the course was set and we’re there. We want to give up but that’s no place to quit. Instead we look for a kind face, a pond of water, a stalk of wheat – anything that might slake our hunger, quench our thirst, and make us feel less desolate. But no matter how we grab for something, it’s a mirage and we’re still alone in the desert. Or are we?

Desert living become the norm? Are you struggling with being alone and feeling desolate? Do you wonder where your friends drove off to? Are you seeking to find sustenance through things that won’t fill your belly? Are you drinking from fountains that have run completely dry? Happiness is gone. Fun ran out, nobody to lean on, no one to complain to or receive hope from. Maybe you’re wondering why God would do this to you? You’ve started crying out to Him and seeking His face because you are oh so desperate.

Oh beloved, keeping calling out to Him for God is calling out to you! He’s saying I AM here. He’s speaking to your heart – I AM all you need. He says to you this morning, I AM that I AM. I AM the fount of living water. Not friends, not family, not possessions, not position, not even a man-made sanctuary can give you what I AM freely giving you. You feel that you were sent to the desert defenseless, but I AM there. My desire is to teach you to trust in Me alone. To teach you that I AM your answer, your calling, your destiny and your heart’s desires.

Look again, precious one. That’s no desert you are in. It is an oasis of God’s redeeming love. He is teaching you that you are more valuable than things, more sought after than gold and more beautiful than the cedars of Lebanon. Run quickly into His caring arms, for He will carry you through this time of waiting and into the next step of ministry for Him. You will get through the desert as you live in the light of His Word and live in the peace of His calling on our life.

Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.

Psalm 107:8-9 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men!  For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

Isaiah 48:17 This is what the LORD says–your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.”

 

(photo courtesy pinterest)