The Desert

This is about the desert - the dry land with no water... not dessert, the yummy high-calorie stuff we eat after dinner. :)

Specifically, it is about spiritual deserts.

At some point in our lives (especially true in mine) we get stuck in the desert--the dry, hot, dusty, rocky, difficult situation(s) in our lives in which survival seems difficult, let alone able to thrive.

I've been in a real desert before, and it is much like the spiritual counterpart. It gets hot during the day. The heat is unrelenting, and there is no relief from it until the sun goes down.

But once the sun sets, the desert becomes frigid. It's an amazing contrast that takes place in just a few hours.

Much like the contrast we experience in our spiritual desert, moving from extreme pain or mood to another. Life seems to consist of one trial after another, and many times multiple trials pop up simultaneously. We look for the green land or water, but only see sand. Just desert.

I have learned that God does not see the desert the way we do. Or I do.

The desert is the place where God cut me off from dependence on this physical world. Once cut, I could develop a deeper, loving trust in Him. In fact, the desert experience is a preparation for better things.

Look at the Hebrews with Moses wandering the desert for 40 years... Jesus after His baptism, in the desert for 40 days and nights... and so on.

Still, times in my spiritual desert times can be painful. It is a time of testing. But it is also a opportunity to shed the baggage I have stored up and trust God at a deeper level. As I do this (and some periods are easier than others), I walk in a greater presence of the Lord in the midst of my difficulties.

I guess it comes down to this: He can't trust me (or any of us) with the riches of His kingdom when we are afraid or insecure about the future. He removes my insecurity and builds my faith through the tight, dry places of life. This fact doesn't always make it easier to think about or accept when we hit a desert spot. But that doesn't make it any less true.