Redeeming the Desert

Desert Crack University of Rochester

I wrote the following post a couple days ago and just sat on it. I didn't know what I was waiting for but the Lord provided an article with a physical example to confirm that this is also what He also does in the spirit realm. So thank you God, and enjoy:)

A little while back I blogged about the topic In the Desert Places. In that post I said I felt I was in a desert time in my life. I still believe this to be true but as you probably know by now I cannot be satisfied with just knowing that. Exactly what is the point of being in the desert?

In the last post I said it was an opportunity to lean on God, learn about His love and to learn to trust Him more.

Song of Solomon 8:5

Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?

The Lord never takes us to the desert to leave us there, to punish us or to abandon us.

Isaiah 43:18-20
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.

One of my favorite characteristics about God is that He is a Redeemer. He takes what is broken and worthless and turns it into a thing of beauty. So if He has taken you into a desert place in your life, He is not going to leave you there. He is redeeming that place:

Isaiah 41:17-19
"The poor and needy search for water,
but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the LORD will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs.

Did you catch the following article on Yahoo yesterday, Giant Crack in Africa Will Create a New Ocean? Scientists are predicting that a giant crack that has formed in the desert of Ethiopia is going to turn into an ocean! Did you catch what the Spirit of the Lord predicts will happen to our desert places?

The Lord has lovingly invited us as His bride into the desert places in our life. He's known these places have existed all along but now He is taking us to that place to redeem it. In that place He is showing us the gigantic cracked areas in our lives? Do you know why we have valleys, gorges and cracks here on earth? Because the mantle of the earth is constantly shifting. The foundation of earth is not a solid, secure foundation. So why would we have cavernous places in our spiritual lives? Because those are areas in our lives where we have not had Him as our foundation. He takes us to those places and shows us the depth of our needs and He says, "Watch, I'm doing a new thing. I will fill those empty places in your heart with the water, the water of my Holy Spirit, that brings new life and love."

I would like to finish this post with the whole chapter of Isaiah 35. It is titled in the Bible as the Joy of the Redeemed. May the truth of God's Word minister to your individual heart and may you know that He deeply loves you.

Joy of the Redeemed
The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.

Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
"Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you."

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.

The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it;
it will be for those who walk in that Way;
wicked fools will not go about on it.

No lion will be there,
nor will any ferocious beast get up on it;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
and the ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away

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If you have a minute stop by my site For His Glory Alone and see my new background.

The last 2 Sunday's my feedburner has been grabbing old posts and sending them to you. Just so you know, I didn't ask it to do this, so I don't know if it will keep doing it or will suddenly stop. If it keeps doing it and the posts seem familiar, sorry.