A friend of mine recently asked me to pray for her. She expressed how she was in a “dry” place. Unlike so many times before, she couldn’t think of a specific thing that I could pray, but she just felt she needed prayer. Her request made me think back on times in my own life when I felt like I was in the desert or a dry place with the Lord.
Webster’s Online Dictionary defines desert as: 1) arid land with usually sparse vegetation; an area of water apparently devoid of life 2) a wild uninhabited and uncultivated tract 3) a desolate or forbidding area
That definition certainly doesn’t make you want to go book an airline ticket and head off to the desert for your next vacation. As Christians, “desert times” can be stressful, scary, make us question our relationship with God and question God Himself.
Today, I want to look at the desert in a different light and give it a new definition. If you search for scriptures throughout the book of Exodus you notice that God called His people to: worship me in the desert (Exodus 7:16), journey into the desert (Exodus 3:18), hold a festival to me in the desert (Exodus 5:1). They looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud (Exodus 16:10).
All of these scriptures point out that God is there in the desert! And if we meet God there with an open mind and a trusting heart we can endure these times. Often, that is easier said than done. At least for me! But, if God is there with us and we believe that He is who is says He is – will can praise Him in that desert place. On the flip side of that, the desert can be all that Webster’s describes if we lose sight of God and start to grumble as the Israelites did on their well know journey through the desert. A trip through the desert with God can provide festival, praise, growth and worship or a trip through the desert without Him can bring thirst, defeat and death.
God speaks to us through prayer, the Bible, the church, others He places in our paths and our circumstances. Let’s not forget the last one. Our circumstances can bring us to that desert place and if we open our heart to the Lord He can fill it with answers and speak to us in ways we wouldn’t hear or understand if we were not in the desert.
I believe during the “dry times” we learn to seek God daily, ask Him questions, get to know Him more intimately, and remember not to take Him for granted. He stretches our faith muscles, convicts our hearts, challenges our trust and just like every good workout leaves us a little sore. But in the long run, we are fit for the next challenge. We are stronger than when we started. We realize even more how much we need Him in our daily lives, how much He has to offer and how much we count on Him.
So, let’s redefine desert.
Desert: 1) vast land with that grows that bread of life; an area filled with the living water 2) a wild and exciting area full of opportunities to gain knowledge and grow closer with our Father in Heaven 3) an intimate and pleasant area
Now that’s better!!!
He split the rocks in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas; Psalm 78:15
GodChick’s L-O-V-E – Let it go, On your knees, Very passionately, Everyday!
Allison T. Cain, God’s Chick Devotions
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This is beautiful, thank you.
Applying this to marital struggles, I have seen streams in the desert after hanging in there and holding on to God. I love your redefinition, gotta learn it well!
Blessings!
I appreciate the desert as the place where you can dwell and soak of more of HIM and as opportunity to fill! Love following your devotions Allison!
Often times we don’t appreciate God’s gifts of refreshment until we find ourselves in a dry place … the beautiful raindrops of God when we need them most … and are guaranteed to see them as gifts from HIM! Wonderful & fresh perspective … thank you!
Love your new definition! Yes and amen, girl!
At 64 i have had a couple desert times and have learned that those time are where God wants to strengthen my walking faith. I so identify with the Israelite and the very fact God kept loving them, over and over providing for them encourages me that He will do the same for me. I just need to keep walking in faith through the valley, the streams, the dry places, the high places, trusting Him to strengthen me. It is actually the desert place that makes us so aware the most of my need for Him, so could it be seen as a gift? Betty
One of the times when I felt God’s presence and love the very most was a period several years ago when, although a Christian, I was living a rebellious life. I was actively running away from God because I didn’t want to hear Him chastise me for what I was doing at the time. And yet, there He was. I felt Him chase me, felt Him breathe down my neck, felt Him hovering when I would snatch a few moments of prayer at meal times. In short, He was everywhere. I was meant to be in a place of desolation, but God never left me; He refused to let me go. It reminded me of Psa 139:7,8. And thankfully, it was God’s love bearing down on me that finally made me turn aound and collapse with exhaustion into His waiting arms. Oh, what a Friend we have in Jesus! The desert? Thank you for your post because I think I really should re-examine the role of this ‘place’ in our Christian walk. It’s not as frightful anymore because God is in there too!
Thank you so much for this beautiful post. I am planning on printing it out so I can read it again and again. Just what I needed today. Many blessings to you and your family. xx