Desert Streams

 By: Joanne Viola

 

Late one afternoon this week, there was a rumble and a thud which shook the ground. Looking out the window, a tree had come down in the woods behind our house, landing on the roof of our shed. The branches sprawled out everywhere.

We were outside on Saturday, my husband using the chainsaw methodically, as we cleaned it all up.

The first day of spring was last week. The time of year when everything planted comes back to life. Nothing remains dormant.

I began to note that the trees were budding, Some trees now had a red hue and others a light green shading, indicating the leaves would soon be coming. Seeing the new growth brought this to mind:

“Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.”
(Isaiah 43:19, NASB)

1. God is doing a new thing. ‘Doing’ means that He is making or creating that new thing. His reason? To show us His faithfulness.
2. We need to perceive what He is doing. I love how the NASB words it, “Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it?” The problem lies with our lack of awareness of His activity. May He give us eyes that see and ears that hear. May He give us eyes and ears that are willing to see and hear.
3. He is making a way. His reason? To bring about a change – a change in circumstances. A change in us.

God is in the habit of causing new growth to spring up in places we do not expect to see growth. Notice that the place in which He makes the way is “in the desert” and “in the wasteland”. In neither place would we have high expectations of growth or production. Yet our God chooses those very places to demonstrate Himself to us.

Perhaps good questions to ask ourselves today would be:

• Where is the desert in my life? What does the desert represent in our lives at this moment in time?
• Where is the wasteland? What do we think has been a waste of time and/or effort?

For it is in those very places that we need to be aware that our God is fully able to work, in the midst of pain, in the midst of no hope, in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of rejection, in the midst of loneliness, and in the midst of unmet desires.

In those very places, He can cause the answer to spring up. He desires to bring about a new thing in our lives. He is able to make a way where there is no way.

Scripture tells us the very reason that He responds to us in this way:

“Because I have given waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My chosen people.
“The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise.”
(Isaiah 43:20-21, NASB)

 

Today may we see what He is doing.
May we see the way that He alone is making, and proclaim His praise.
May we see His stream in the desert.

 

Reflection:
What does the desert represent in your life at this time? Where do you desire for God to bring new growth?

 

Image by Alan Frijns from Pixabay