Desert Times

Do you feel like you have nothing to give because life seems so overwhelming? Are you in a dry and weary land where there is no water? A wilderness?

There was a season in my life when I was in a wilderness of depression. It seemed like my thirst would never be quenched again. Yet I was like a flower blooming in the dry ground.

Through friends’ prayers, counseling, and time in God’s Word, He brought blossoms into my desert. He can rescue, deliver, and strengthen you for the good He has promised you. Trials and discouragement can invite deep reflection on spiritual realities. As the material world is stripped from our senses by the barrenness of a trial, we might turn our hearts to God and seek what is truly important in our lives. King David did this in Psalm 63 when he was in the wilderness of Judah because he was being pursued by his enemies. His son Absalom was threatening his life and trying to take over the throne. David finds hope in worship of God.

Psalm 63:1–3 says, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you; as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you” (ESV).

So many times when we are walking through trials, we rely on our feelings and not God’s promises. When we fail to lean on God, we spiral in fear and despair and then doubt God’s goodness. These are tools of the enemy. I struggled with depression for years, and there were times when I was so overwhelmed that I had to pray just to get my foot out of the bed. I felt the nearness of God, yet sometimes God seemed so distant. The difference was whether I was relying on how I felt versus relying on who God is and how He sees me. He sees me as His precious lamb. I wrote this poem to show how God sees me:

 Depth

 Oh how deeply the Father loves me

 He calls me

 Beloved

 Precious

 Even when I am

 In a deep

 Dark

 Place

 He is my light and salvation

 Whom shall I fear

Times of trial are times when we need to remind ourselves of God’s goodness. Jeremiah did this in Lamentations when Jerusalem was overtaken and the temple was burned. Jeremiah could see hope in his desert time. He could say that God’s mercies are new every morning.

God is faithful no matter what the circumstances or result of the suffering. Dwell on the facts that God is faithful, He provides for your every need, He loves you, and His mercies are new. Don’t be tempted to doubt or fear. This is a time for you to abide in God. He is after your heart. He designs deserts to draw us to Himself. They reveal our heart issues and the treasures we lean on for sustenance. God will never leave us, never forsake us, and never send us to a place He isn’t going with us.