FINDING GOD IN A

DRY PLACE

I have again been on a journey.  This journey showed me many things that reminded me of my journey and your journey as we travel on this road of life, looking forward to our Heavenly Home.

As we traveled south and on into California, we encountered miles and miles of desert, sage brush and dry places.  We observed the surrounding hillsides, devoid of any green shrubs or evidence of water. We also traveled thru the great Mohave Desert with its cactus and dry stream beds.   We traveled miles and miles between rest stops.

Then up ahead would be an “oasis” of green trees, a place of rest, a place to stop and be refreshed, as we continued on in our journey across the desert.  As we neared our first destination, my home town, we saw more desert and miles and miles of absolute desolation.

This latest journey was one of dry places, one of renewal, one of memories, and one of fellowship with family and friends.  We also saw places and people who need Jesus, who are lost eternally unless they encounter the Lord Jesus Christ.  I experienced heart breaking moments of realizing how much this nation needs a great revival.  My heart broke over the darkness of sin.  Who is going to tell them of Jesus?  Who is going to pray and intercede for the lost?  Are we doing that?  Or are we just going about our own lives, unmindful of the places of sin and darkness?  I asked myself what I was doing for God’s kingdom to win the lost.

This nation is truly a thirsty land, and we are a thirsty people.  We have all the “things” our hearts could desire, but these “things” do not satisfy our souls.  People are wandering in the deserts of sin and heartbreak, of loneliness and despair.

“They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; they found no city to dwell in.  Hungry and thirsty, they soul fainted in them.  Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble.  And He delivered them out of their distresses.  And He led them forth by the right way that they might go to a city for a dwelling place.  Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!  For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness” Psalm 107:4-9.

The Psalmist here is reminding us of the journey of the Children of Israel through the wilderness, and it is a picture of people today, wandering in the wilderness of despair.  They are lost without direction, wandering in a dry place, desolate, souls hungry and thirsty for the Living God.  Are you wandering in a desert place right now, my friends?  Maybe you have known the Lord, walked in the green pastures with your Shepherd, but you wandered away into the desert of despair, and you are like the Children of Israel, your soul is fainting within you.

But when they were lost in despair, they cried out to the LORD in the midst of their trouble, and our Wonderful Lord delivered them out of their distresses.  And if you are lost and wandering today, cry out to Him in your trouble, and He will set you on the right path, and lead you to the eternal city for your eternal dwelling place, Praise the Lord!

And then the Psalmist desires that men would then give thanks for the LORD for their deliverance and all the blessings that He desires to pour out upon them, and He wants to fill your hungry and thirsty soul with peace and joy.

“The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes” Isaiah 35:7.

And what happens to a dry and thirsty land when water is brought in, especially by irrigation?  Green grass begins to spring up, flowers bloom, the desert will literally “blossom like a rose.” The parched land becomes green and lush and bears much fruit, so with us when we encounter the Living Lord, the Lord who walks with us through all our desert places.

“On that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Yes, in the midst of your desert place, in the midst of your parched soul, in the midst of your thirst, in the midst of your restless heart, hear the words of the Lord Jesus.  He is the Living Bread, He is the Living Water.  He is the One who will bring joy and refreshment to your parched soul.  And your desert will indeed blossom like a rose, your life will again bear fruit and you will experience such peace and joy, the like of which you have never experienced.

Call out to Him my friend, He is waiting for you.  He died for you, to give you eternal life with Him forever.  If only we could reach the lost in those places of darkness and despair and tell them about Jesus.  Jesus is the only answer to this world and its darkness and despair.  You believers out there, won’t you join me in prayer for the lost, for the dying?  Jesus wants to bring light into the dark places of this world, into the lonely and darkened hearts of people everywhere.  He is waiting and watching and not willing that any should perish.

I will be bring more of my journey in my next blog, a blog regarding “stones of remembrance”, those places along our path that we stop and reflect on the memories of those places, the blessings of those places, and sometimes there are places where times were hard, but our God was always there along our path, Praise the Lord!

In Christ’ Name,

Pastor Sharon