Parched For Grace

 So they say that our bodies are made up of 60% water and, when dehydrated, our very cells start to shrink for lack of moisture. We begin to wither and die when we do not drink. And somehow, I'm beginning to think that the same holds true for our souls, too. 

Maybe you feel, as I do, that you've been wandering in a desert of sorts for sometime and that well-springs of healing, of life-giving power, have been few and far between. Your face feels pelted by the sandstorms that have arisen; the sun has burned you raw. For miles in all directions, there is no sign of exiting this wilderness. It just seems to go on...and on...and on. Endless. Relentless heat. Fatigue setting in. This season in all its fury has taken its toll, and you are weary. Beat. Despairing. 

For the longest time, I used to dread these very conditions. Wanted to escape the desolation, the loneliness. Just prayed to be taken out so I could avoid what I hadn't asked for...what I didn't want. And for years I fought the desert way. Didn't see that it was the exact way that would lead me to The Way. 

The Way Himself never answers our prayers to be removed. Instead, He carves a way through. We are not taken out so we can be taken in. 

It wasn't until I began to see just how many times God has led the ones He most wanted to use to wild and remote places that I started to realize that those for whom He treasures up the greatest designs usually have to be tried before their intended purpose is revealed. Before they can meet the moment for which God has specifically prepared them, the essence of their faith must be proven. And the desert was often where God took them. 

He took Moses from out of the royal court and made him keep sheep for 40 years before being called to lead God's people out of Egypt. He let David wander among caves and be chased by the very king he once served before David could sit on the throne he'd been anointed years before to inherit. And God sent His own Son to the wilderness to wrestle with the Devil's lies before taking on His earthly ministry. And what came of all these desolate seasons? Psalms and Scripture. Character. Endurance. Faith. Trust. 

The promises that fill the Good Book about streams in harsh places and ways through desolation aren't just for the natural world...they're for the human soul - as evidence that God has reasons for why He brings all people into such places. 

From the prophet Hosea we find that our entering the wilderness comes by God's alluring and that God desires to speak peace to us in such places (2:14), and Ezekiel found that desert spaces presented opportunities to be met honestly with God's truth, however painful (20:35). Wilderness seasons, if we let them, can be some of the most productive we ever encounter. Because there, in such distraction-free places, we come face to face with God and ourselves. 

Perhaps Isaiah was right when he wrote down the God-breathed syllables that in the lonely, deserted wasteland would become the breeding ground for new things (43:19). That the wandering times would strip the soul of what did not belong, thus making it receptive to fresh beginnings and a renewed start. 

Like Hagar, the desert times are not devoid of the living Water our hearts cry for. God knows we are parched for Grace, and He will supply it. Even though these forsaken places feel as though God has left and we are abandoned to survive on our own, He is, in reality, only silent. And when you most think you've scanned every place imaginable for nourishing but to no avail, always a well appears. His answer to the young single mom as she cried for help while her son was failing of thirst is the same answer to you and I: "...Do not be afraid; God has heard..." (Gen. 21:17). 

In that moment, once she realized God was listening, it all became clear. The Bible says that "God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water..." (21:19). 

When we find ourselves in the wilderness, we meet God. We gain vision. We learn to depend. We grow in belief. Because God always hears. Our need to be satisfied is always met in the One who offers us Living Water. Who provides freely so that our hearts do not shrivel up and die. We may taste the grit of wind-blown sand and feel the heat of penetrating sun but there is always a way because we know The Way. 

And that Way who has been making ways always will never fail to create new ways because that's what He does.