The Desert

Good Afternoon, Papa God! 

You’ve seen me. You have heard my heart’s cry and my words since early this morning. I have no more words. I have nothing more to lay down. I am spent. So, where’s that leave me for today? Well, this much I know! I am right where I need to be because You told me I was! Sometimes right where I need to be feels like the desert. Then I remember that even Jesus was led to the desert wilderness for 40 days. He was led there for a purpose – to prepare Himself for His ministry and the Cross. Yes, He was tested during His desert experience. If He set the pattern and the example, then I, and all Christ-followers, can expect the same testing pattern at certain times in life. I guess this is one of those times for me. The desert wilderness has Your Divine purpose woven throughout the experience. My mind is going back to Your Word and remembering other desert walks made by Your people – Abraham, Moses, Israelites, Elijah, Paul, John the Baptist. All were led there by Your design to prepare them for Your next assignment in their lives. So, here I am, Papa God, in the desert where You have led me. The testing and trials have been many and some of them painful. But, You have taught me, strengthened me, and sustained me. You have made all Your grace abound toward me, so that I always have sufficiency in all things You have asked of me. My faith and trust in You has increased, and You have kept me. Just like Moses said, “I’d rather be right here in the thorns and thistles and never know the taste of milk and honey, if that is what it takes to have You. Let my foes keep every inch of that land, if, in order to possess it, I cannot have You. Give me every blessing that I can have and still have You, OR give me nothing at all besides You. No promise on earth can take the place of Your Presence. I choose the desert if that’s where You are. If You are not going up from here, then I’m staying.”

My child,

I know where you are! I’ve heard you! I see you! For now, just be still and listen to My voice. Quiet your heart ... get a little more still. See, now you are beginning to hear Me. I have promised to use every moment of your life for your good. Nothing is wasted, even in these dark days that seem to have no purpose. Every day has a purpose and a use. I see to that! My little one, have I ever failed to show you the way you were to go and what you were to do? Then why do you think I have forgotten you this time? It is not possible for Me to forget you. You are engraved in the palms of My hands. I am right here, and I do know the way I will have you go, what I will have you do, and when. I have seen your tears as you have struggled in your desert walk. Dry your tears and rest in My arms. It will all be good! With the testing of your faith during this time, you have released and renounced the weaknesses and sins that have impaired your growth. The desert prepares you for the release of more of My power in your life. Remember always – I am for you, never against you! I am your greatest fan, cheering you on! I want you to win every time. I know you and your routine. I know what energizes you and what brings you down. I have equipped you to walk through this desert wilderness in victory.  No matter how many times you stumble during this desert walk, I am here with you. With each stumble, you face head-on something else I need you to lay down and release to Me. I know you feel like nothing is changing, and that you are swimming against the current all the time. Stop struggling and rest in Me. Seek Me first! My love for you is working out every event of your life, bringing My good for you from it. Your “shelf-sitting” has been for your growth, My child, and to remove from you your workaholic tendency, your need to always be doing something, and your hold on earthly desires. I am pursuing you; the depths of My heart’s love for you knows no bounds. I will forever bring you back to Me, no matter how many times you stumble. But, I will, as I am doing now, put you in a “time out” or as you refer to it, “on the shelf” so I can flush out of you all that needs to be removed. Being on a shelf for a time is not rejection, My child. It is so I can change you into My image, allowing more of Me in you. It is my growth process, My child … line upon line, precept upon precept, lose to gain, emptied to be filled, and stretched to be straightened. I am all about changing the inside of you, not about what you are doing for Me. I know this kind of transition is very difficult, a very real struggle. Trust Me while I work within you. Trust Me as the Potter of your life. Leave your life in My hands as a lump of clay to mold and make into My vessel of honor and glory. I am with you where you are just as I, faithfully, promised that I would be. Trust Me! I will take you where I want you to be, even if I must carry you at times.

(Rom.8:28,31; Exo.33:15 paraphrased; Jer.29:11; Matt.4:1-11; 2 Cor.9:8; Phil.2:13; James1:2-3; Matt.6:33; Isa.28:10)