Wednesday Words of Encouragement: God who is in our Desert Places

Psalm 63 (HCSB) ~

 

God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You.
I thirst for You;
my body faints for You
in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.
So I gaze on You in the sanctuary
to see Your strength and Your glory.

My lips will glorify You
because Your faithful love is better than life.
So I will praise You as long as I live;

at Your name, I will lift up my hands.
You satisfy me as with rich food;
my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.

When I think of You as I lie on my bed,
I meditate on You during the night watches
because You are my helper;
I will rejoice in the shadow of Your wings.
I follow close to You;
Your right hand holds on to me.

 

Desolate, unending, parched and dry.  Stinging sand, blazing heat, scorching sun, and exhausting are just a few words to describe the desert. There have been times in my life when I feel like I'm in a desert place.  The scenery is the same, day in and day out.  Nothing new or exciting happens.  I stumble and wander through my days, wondering if this is all there is.  I feel dry and stale both emotionally and spiritually.

 

When we are going through dry times, the only way to face them is by finding shelter from the scorching heat in the presence of God. 

 

He can help us through those the desert times in our lives with his following attributes.

 

His strength – Our strength is sapped in the desert.  We stumble along and lose our energy. Yet, in the Lord, we find the strength to carry on. His strength will help us along when we think we can’t walk one more day. 

 

His glory – Every single place in our life that the Lord places us is for a purpose and that purpose is to reveal His glory through us. It doesn’t matter if we are on the mountaintop or in the valley or by the ocean or even in the desert. His glory is revealed through the way we handle our circumstances. As we face the desert wasteland with praise and thanksgiving, He is glorified. When we walk through unending days of struggle with joy, He is glorified. When we keep our eyes on Him, he is glorified.

 

His faithful love – The reason we can praise Him in the desert is because the Lord truly is faithful to us. He doesn’t give up. He doesn’t turn His back on us. He is plodding along with us in the desert. He is there even when we can’t see Him. 

 

His help – God is the one who will help us through the desert times. So often we want to turn to people when we are struggling, but it is only in the Lord that we will find our help.

 

If you are like me, you want to look for a change of scenery. You would prefer to be back on the mountaintop or  anywhere else would do. However, we need to view our lives as being placed where we are for a purpose. When we find myself in the desert times, we must remember that God has placed us there for a reason. 

Embrace the desert places and rest in God’s wings from the scorching heat.  He will protect you and keep you safe.  He won’t let you wither and die in the desert.  He will be an oasis for you from the unending heat.

Trust Him in those dry places and you may begin to see the beauty that is in them.