Lessons From the Desert
“The desert is the greatest place for a miracle.”
All of us go through deserts. It’s confusing, hopeless, and DRY.
I have good news for you: It can also be the prime spot for a miracle.
Here is how your greatest test can be your greatest triumph:
I recently flew from Dubai to Cairo, going straight over the Sinai desert. It’s the place Moses led 2-3 million people out into.
There’s nothing there. Nothing. The only thing green I saw was a few sprigs of grass near the Cairo airport runway when we landed.
How do you make it through a desert like that?
1. God may have led you there.
Jesus went into the desert. Paul went into the desert. Elijah, Philip, and even Joseph and Mary did also on their way to Egypt. All of them were led by God there. There is something about deserts that unplugs you from absolutely anything and everything.
Consider these facts (courtesy of my friend Phil Cooke):
1. The average person sees 5000 media messages per day. Their television is on 8 hours and 18 minutes a day.
2. 65% of people spend more time with email than with their spouse.
3. The average adult checks their iPhone 110 times a day.
Perhaps God knows we are DESPERATE FOR A DESERT?
2. God is the only one who can save you there.
As I looked outside the plane window to the vast, rocky nothingness of Sinai, tears welled up in my eyes: “Nothing but a miracle could have brought an entire nation without food or water through this.”
God sees you there. He’s got water from boulders, bread from heaven, shade from clouds, clothing that never fades and even ravens with filet mignon in their mouth. The desert gives Him an amazing opportunity to show His great love for you.
“In the lonely, barren, heat of the desert is where you discover an inner water.”
3. You will never know what you are made of until you are in a desert.
The Spirit sent Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. In other words, He could demonstrate just how deep this new water baptism in Jordan actually went.
We all talk a good talk surrounded by chocolate sundaes and swimming pools. In the lonely, barren, heat of the desert is where you discover an inner water. Isaiah called it “streams in the desert” and Jesus called it “rivers out of your belly.”
4. Keep your attitude right and you will make it across that desert.
Grumbling, rebellion, idolatry, and anger at God killed most of that Sinai generation…not the lack of food or water. Heart issues can prolong or finish your desert season.
Keep your feet moving on, keep looking forward and upward, keep following the cloud, keep your eyes on God’s goodness. Make no mistake: You WILL see the other side!
Looking down on that vast, treeless nothing called Sinai, I realized just how mighty our God really is…in the desert.
Put your hand in His hand, weary soul. Trust Him.
You might as well learn the lessons of the desert…while you are there.
