Life in the Desert

In the Psalms King David spoke of being in a ‘dry and thirsty land, where there is no water’ (Ps 63:1). He wasn’t just speaking of as physical desert but one of emotional and mental abandonment. Even though he had done what he believed to be right, had committed himself to a cause ordained by God, he was now alone. Have you ever felt like David when he wrote these words? Have you felt like you are in a dry and weary land where there is no water? Perhaps you have tried desperately to follow God’s leading but wound up in the desert? No matter what you do, what you read or where you go, you still come up dry and empty.

Jesus understood the desert experience. After he was baptized the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness. Moses spent 40 years in the desert. Elijah experienced dry times, as did Joseph, Daniel, the apostle Paul and many others of the great men of God. The fact is God leads us into dry times. But why?

There are a number of reasons why this might be so. In the first place the desert is a place of testing. The people of Israel were taken through the desert for 40 years to see what was in their hearts and if they would obey God’s command (Deut 8:2). God takes us through times of dryness to test us, to see where our motivation really lies. Will we still love and serve him without the recognition or results we seek?

God also leads us into and through the desert to help us to grow. John the Baptist remained in the desert, where he grew and became strong in the Spirit so that he would be prepared when he appeared in public (Luke 1:80). We often do our best growing in the desert, the place where we have to deal with the harshness and severity of circumstances. The place where our character is formed and we grow to maturity.

A third reason why God may lead us in to the desert is to give us rest. Sometimes the only way we will rest is if we are forced to it! Jesus told his disciples ‘come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest’ (Mk 6:31). Many of us feel that we are so indispensable to God that if we don’t keep active then somehow his purposes will fail. On occasion God takes us aside so that we will rest – he knows our limits better than we do and if we don’t take time out, his Spirit may well lead us into the desert where we have no choice.

God also uses the desert to restore to us something we have lost. Serving God should always be vibrant and exciting, however for many of us it can become mundane and routine. God will use dry times to bring us back into the joy of his presence. He will also use them to restore our ability to hear his voice and to give us fruitfulness in ministry, to get things into proper perspective, to restore our praise and to give back to us freedom in serving him. Our ministry is not the drudgery of self -imposed service but a joyful experience of co-labouring with Jesus.

The fifth purpose, of the desert is preparation; God uses our dry times to get us ready for what is to come. It is a place where our desire is heightened and where we develop a thirst for the streams of God.

Unless your desert experience is the result of some act of disobedience or because you have lost your way, God has led you there. It is his desire to prepare you for the wide open places he will set before you. Thank God for your desert, allow him to show you the purposes he intends it to accomplish in your life and ministry. And then get ready for the day you emerge from those dry places full of the power of the Holy Spirit ready to do great and mighty things.