When we find ourselves in the desert, in a spiritual wasteland of hope deferred, many times we begin to wonder and question and doubt the choices we have made in our lives. It is easy in the desert to question if we really heard God.
God speaks tenderly to those who are in the desert. He speaks comfort and he speaks hope. “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”” (Isaiah 40:1–5, NIV84)
The desert we find ourselves in is also the place where God intends to transform every circumstance and test into a testimony of the goodness of God. When we are in the desert it is time to listen to the voice of God who tells us to proclaim, to declare and to cry out. “A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry” (Isaiah 40:6, NIV84)
We declare in the desert that pride and the working and striving of our own strength will never accomplish the purposes of God. We declare and proclaim in the desert that the only thing that has power, life and strength is the promise and the Word of God. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”” (Isaiah 40:7–8, NIV84) In the desert we prepare the way of the Lord. In the desert we continue to worship, we continue to live Holy, and we continue to trust.
In the desert we declare the hope the promise that God has spoken to us. “You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” (Isaiah 40:9–11, NIV84) In the season of barrenness we shout out the future victory of God. In the desert we declare to all who are around us that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him in the desert. In the dryness of our hearts and in the brokenness of shattered dreams we declare the truth that God’s love is never changing and even in the desert God cares for us as tender shepherd. We declare in the desert that close to us and cares for us even when we feel far from His plan and His purposes and His call.
In the desert we meditate on the character of God. We dwell on the majesty of who God is. We praise God in the desert for who He is. “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:12–14, NIV84) In the desert of broken dreams we recall again that God’s ways are not always our ways. The desert is once again a place of surrender to the greatness and the goodness of God.
Trusting God in the desert season when everything we do seems barren and lifeless is hard. God promises that if He led us into the desert, at the right time, He will bring us out.
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:28–31, NIV84)
To everyone who walks in the place of brokenness, hope deferred and shattered dreams, there is hope and that hope is God himself. God asks why you listen to the enemy who causes you to say, ” “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?” (Isaiah 40:27, NIV84) Trust in God. Hope in God. Surrender to God. In the time of renewed trust, you will find renewed strength to keep walking. The desert embraced becomes a place of transformation. Those who are weak become strong.
God is very close to you in the desert.
I declare and proclaim that God is close to me. I declare and proclaim that God is caring for me and that He loves me. I declare and proclaim that God is God and that there is no circumstance that can keep me from fulfilling His call and His purpose for me.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV84)
