Have you ever been in a desert? Maybe the Namib? Or the Sahara?
I have been to the Namib a couple of times, but that was way back.... I think the last time I visited there was in 1977.
Whilst it is a very arid, dry, thirsty place to be, it has a majestic beauty all of its own. The colours and the contours of the sand dunes are really a sight to behold and to remember.
What were your emotions as you stood in the desert? Awed, fearful, excited? Perhaps you were not as blessed as me to just be visiting the desert; perhaps you had to stay there for a while or got lost in the desert....
Now in Biblical times there were a number of people living in the desert. If you remember, the Israelites, after God brought them out of Egypt, wandered the desert for 40 years! Wow! I do not envy them. To crown it all, the road they had to travel could have been done in 10 days! But God's anger flared up againt them and He took them the long way because of their disbelief and lack of faith and courage :
"9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they dis-
couraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the
land which the Lord had given them. 10 So the Lord’s anger was aroused
on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who
came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of
which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly
followed Me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and
Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.’ 13 So the
Lord’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the
wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight
of the Lord was gone."
But, even though the Lord God was angry with them and did not relent but kept them in the desert for the full 40 years, still, during that period of time, He was the provider in all of their needs and they saw many , many miracles take place in the desert.
Now in the New Testament, we find John the Baptist also in the desert. He apparently lived their for years as well :
" 3. Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate
being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip
tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of
Abilene, 2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests,[a] the word of God
came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all
the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the re-
mission of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet..."
He was not there because God was angry with him. No, it had been his natural habitat for some time, and a place where he was easily accessible to God and quiet enough to readily hear the voice and commandments that he, as a prophet of the Lord God, had been waiting for...
Amazingly God skips Tiberias Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, and all the rulers and tetrachs in the magnificent palaces and mansions, and chooses John, in his camel hair clothes and grasshopper diet to give a command to! Makes you think...!
Then, of course, we also find the Lord Jesus himself in the desert, after he had been baptised by the same John that we have just read about :
4. Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the
Jordan and was led by the Spirit into[a] the wilderness, 2 being
tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate
nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, com-
mand this stone to become bread.” 4 But Jesus answered him,
saying, [b] “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word of God.’” c] 5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a
high mountain, showed Him[d] all the kingdoms of the world in a
moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority
I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me,
and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship
before me, all will be Yours.” 8 And Jesus answered and said to him,
“Get behind Me, Satan![e] For[f] it is written, ‘You shall worship the
Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ [g] 9 Then he brought
Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to
Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.
10 For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep
you,’ 1 and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your
foot against a stone.’”[h] 12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has
been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”[i] 13 Now when
the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an
opportune time. "
Again, not a pleasant place for Jesus to be for 40 days and obviously nights as well - without food, without water to sustain Him. He could have made the wrong decisions here. But, again, God Almighty was present even in this situation and honoured His faith and His stance, so that He went from there with all the power and authority that He could possibly need to heal and save as He went along ministering and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
So, maybe you find yourself in a spiritual, financial, emotional, physical desert just at this moment. Maybe you have been there for almost 40 years, or 40 days, or whatever time....
I want to encourage you however, whatever the circumstances, understand and accept that the Lord God Almighty is also present in your arid, dry desert. Not only that, He is intimately acquainted with the circumstances, and He is mighty and able to provide in your every need. You are now in a place where, if you are quietly listening for His voice, you will hear Him talking to you in your desert; He is there to strengthen you and to guide you so that you will not make wrong choices or decisions.
Thank You, Lord, that we may trust in your power, faithfulness, mercy, grace, goodness and wisdom in all circumstances. Thank You that we may know that you are with us, in whichever desert we may find ourselves today and that You are mighty to save and instruct us in Your ways.
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