Pages

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Blooming In The Desert

I recently discovered that there are at least 10 different wildflowers that bloom in the desert. It seems impossible that such beauty can spring forth from a ground that seemingly provides little nourishment. In thinking about flourishing in dry ground, I was reminded of my current season of life. I have yet to find a church home where I can be planted, take root, and grow. However, the Lord has shown me that there is growth happening in spite of my circumstances. Just as the month of June represents the official start of summer where all of creation fully displays its beauty, so the month of June has been a time of blooming for me. Some of my colleagues have extended to me the invitation to fill the pulpit while they are away on vacation. There is a hint of blooming in filling these various pulpits not only for me but for God's people. Wherever God has sent me to preach, life springs up. The dryness in people's hearts is watered and hope in God is renewed. Likewise, the dry places in my heart are watered with every opportunity God provides for me to preach. 

God In The Desert Places


The Old and New Testament speak of God allowing people to bloom while sustaining them in the desert. The book of Exodus is the story of God caring for His people in the wilderness on their journey towards the Promised Land. In Exodus 16, He supplied the people with bread and meat in the form of manna and quail, despite their grumbling and desire to return to the foods in Egypt. In the Gospel of Mark chapter 1, we are told, "And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." (Mark 1:4) John the Baptist was sustained and flourished in the desert by eating locusts and wild honey. (Mark 1:6) We of course cannot forget how God sustained Jesus during His forty days and forty nights in the desert (Matthew 4) In spite of Jesus' extreme hunger and fatigue, He bloomed with "rivers of living water", the word of God, to counter Satan's temptations. 


Rivers Of Living Water


The experience I have in preaching God's word is like those rivers of living water as Jesus declared in John 7:38-39, "Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." However, since His resurrection, the Holy Spirit has been given to all Christ's followers. Indeed it is His Spirit that has poured the living water into me and allowed that same water to flow out upon His people helping them to bloom and grow. I thank the Lord for His Spirit encouraging me to bloom in this desert season.
By His Grace,
Pastor Sheree