the desert place

Anybody who has walked with the Lord for quite some years knows 'the desert place'. Most of the time, we dislike to be in it. I know for me, whenever I'm found in this place it's hard for me to be joyful, excited, it's hard to press on and act like normal. Why must we go through this?

I do know one thing. In my life, I have seen me come out of the desert place with more joy, victory, and love than I had before I was sitting in it. It's one of those miraculous things God does, isn't it? He allows us to go through a dry spell in order for us to cling to Him more, trust Him more, and love Him more. It's inevitable.

There are always those seasons in my life where I'm found in the desert. These times aren't easy, I'll admit. Whenever I find myself in this specific part of my walk, I often get aggravated, annoyed, curious, confused, lonely, desperate. Yet, I can't help but to think these are what the Lord wants me to feel. He allows me to go through this period to feel these things, in order for me to abound in Him more and more. It's beautiful.

Lately, I have been sitting in the desert place. I have found myself to be trusting in Him more with my fears, future plans, desires, and self. What a wonderful, majestic God I serve, that He would allow me to go through this season in order to grow me, love me, and guide me. I always rejoice in the desert place because I know that the Lord is doing some of His best work in and through me there.

At first, I'll admit, I'm sitting asking Him why He's allowing me to go through it..yet as I continue to cling to Him and earnestly seek Him in this place, He never fails to show me that it's because He's preparing me for something far greater than I can ever see. Simply incredible.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are going to go through the desert place. It isn't because God has forsaken us, or because we have grown lazy and careless when it comes to our relationship with Him. It's simply because God wants us, He desires that we spend more time clinging to Him, trusting in Him, and allowing Him to purify our hearts for His greater purpose.

I have never once felt totally forsaken, barren, desolate in the desert place. He is so merciful to show me His faithfulness, mercy and love in these times...even when I don't even care about it, or seem to be lazy about it. God is God and He is victorious over all.

This season of going through my desert place, I have come to find that it is the most beautiful, incredible, remarkable place I could ever be in. It's because of this season that His hand is most sensitive to me, His words are most sweet to my taste, and His provision most clear to my soul. It is the desert place that I can come, sit at His feet and do nothing but pour out my sorrows, questions, fears, wonders....yet as we pour these out, all God hears is a beautiful melody. He is refining me, preparing me, doing His most precious work in and through me. What more could I ask for?

What would my relationship with Him be if I never walked through the desert place? Boring, uneventful, tedious. I would never grow, I would never be able to do the work He wants to do. If our relationship was perfect all the time, I would never need to cling to Him more and more. And I believe if it was perfect all the time, I wouldn't love Him as much as I do now. I praise God for the bumps, the dry spells and the loneliness I sometimes feel as I walk hand in hand with Him. Nothing compares to it.

May you be encouraged as you walk daily with our Jesus. May you come to realize that the desert place isn't the end of your relationship with Him, it isn't Him abandoning you for someone else...it is Him working His best work in and through you, purifying you, refining you to be all that He wants you to be. It is the Lord, doing His most precious work in you.

"Christians with the most spiritual depth are generally those who have been taken through the most intense and deeply anguishing fires of the soul. If you have been praying to know more of Christ, do not be surprised if He leads you through the desert or through a furnace of pain. Dear Lord, do not punish me by removing my cross from me. Instead, comfort me by leading me into submission to Your will and by causing me to love the cross. Give me only what will serve You best, and may it be used to rebeal the greatest of all Your mercies: bringing glory to Your name through me, according to Your will." A captives prayer: "Streams in the Desert" L.B. Cowman