Many times I hear people comment, “I’m in a dry place”, or “I’m in a desert or wilderness season”. This comment is usually made with a plea of help, like this is awful. Although it is absolutely amazing to walk through seasons of plenty and fullness, I would agree we don’t relate all those things to the desert. But, I want to challenge your thinking on the desert. Maybe there’s more than what you are seeing. Life is often lived forward, but understood backward.
In Hosea 2:14 it says, Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her”. Every time I read this passage it moves me to tears. How I love when the Lord speaks to me tenderly. And He allured her there with purpose in His Heart! It goes on to say; There I will give her back her vineyards and will make the Valley of Anchor (trouble) a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
This passage tells us that our Amazing Father will lead us into the desert, speak softly to us, and, while there, He will restore us, give us hope and joy. Sounds good to me! Yet why do we fight these seasons and complain? Are we any better than the Israelites? Every day the Lord provided for them. He provided food. He provided direction. Yet they complained rather than yield and surrender to His love, grace, protection and provision. I wonder if their time in the desert would have been shorter if they had only submitted to the process. Oh, wait! Maybe that’s what we need to do.
Sometimes we struggle with the desert place because we aren’t seeing fruit in our lives. I live in Iowa and we have seasons where we see no fruit on the trees or in the fields. It doesn’t mean nothing is happening. There are divine purposes in every season. Growing up on a farm I learned the importance of letting the land rest. We need rest too, and a desert season can be just that. Because the wilderness is a place where we must rely on God. This is when we have no choice but to turn to Him as He provides for us a sanctuary where He is our shield and very great reward.(Gen 15:1)
