A Desert TransformedSample

Water in the Desert

I am a pretty useless gardener. Even indoor plants rarely survive when they are under my care. I either water them far too much and effectively drown them or forget to water them at all and they dry out and die. This makes me realise how easy it is to create a desert in your own home. If it is not watered, a plant may as well be in the Sahara! All it takes is one good drink and some love and that particular desert is transformed. 

Isaiah 43 expresses God’s desire to bring renewal into our dry, barren places, and to open up things which seem irresolvable and impassable. A wasteland doesn’t naturally have streams running through it. If it did, it would be a fertile field, but God is showing us that He is the God of the impossible. He wants to water the wasteland areas of our lives with the foundational truths of His love and the promises of His care and help. Truths which, if we take them deep into our hearts and minds, will have the same renewing power as water to a houseplant. 

Why do we sometimes become dry and barren like a desert? 

One reason is when we feel unloved and unwanted. Feeling isolated, without hope, is one of the key factors in us becoming an emotional desert. If this is you right now, speak the words of Isaiah 43:4 over yourself. This scripture reminds you that you are precious and honoured in God’s sight because He loves you. 

Pray with me…

Thank you, Father, for your promise to make a way in the desert and bring streams in the wasteland. I give to you those barren places in my life and pray that you will open me up to your life-giving love and joy. Amen.