A Place of Springs

 

“I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland… I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen.”

—Isaiah 43:19-20

Have you ever struggled with a problem from which you had no way out? Has the road been dry and unyielding, going on much longer than you ever imagined it would? Do you have no strength for the fight, no tears left to shed, no prayers you haven’t spoken a thousand times? Then this blog post is for you.

I remember one school year during which I was assigned to teach in a school with poor discipline and with an age group to which I had trouble relating. It was a very bad “fit” for me, but I was plugging a hole in the schedule and the administration had shuffled teachers around so that I had room in my week for the classes there.

I remember how poorly the students treated me, even though I did my very best and spent hours and hours looking for materials I thought they would enjoy. Nothing worked. It was a very long school year.

Yet, amidst all the pain and lack of success with music classes, I had a group of students in my chorus who sang beautifully. They joyfully worked hard on the pieces I gave them and earned us a standing ovation at our spring concert. This group was my “oasis” in the desert during that awful school year.

I know a woman who had been an influential leader in her church, but when a new pastor came to the church, she realized he was not going to use her gifts as she had been so effectively used previously. She was heart sick that she was set aside, yet she felt committed to the church and its mission.

Not long after a new pastor came, she was led to a new para-church organization that needed her leadership skills. Also, she received an elevation at her secular job and was given new leadership opportunities there. Though she continued on at the church and was saddened by the direction things took there, God had given her other things that made her heart sing. This was her “oasis” in the desert in that difficult time.

A devoted Christian pastor I know went through the devastating loss of his ministry and his reputation through no fault of his own. The situation nearly ruined him financially, as well. Yet, in those days, he spent a couple of days a week watching his new granddaughter, who sat beside him in the car—those were days before car seats!—and with her little feet sticking straight ahead off the seat, she happily jabbered and sang in his presence. This was his “oasis” in the desert during a very discouraging time in his life.

While God doesn’t always take away our distressing wilderness experiences as quickly as we would like, in the midst of such a desert, He can provide those times of refreshing that keep us going.

When the people of Israel traveled the Sinai desert for 40 years, yearning for the rich foods of Egypt, and fighting off thirst, Scripture tells us in Psalm 78:19:

“…they spoke against God, saying, ‘Can God spread a table in the desert?’”

This passage of Scripture goes on to say in Psalm 78:23-27:

“Yet he [God] gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens; he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. Men ate the bread of angels;…He rained meat down on them like dust, flying birds like sand on the seashore.”

The unbelief of these Israelites greatly disappointed God because He expected His own people to know that He could indeed spread a table before them in the desert.

Likewise, God is able to feed us and to give us a cool refreshing drink in our distress. When you go through a long drought you don’t understand, I urge you to put your trust in Him. He can and He will provide an “oasis” in the desert for you!