The Desert - Part 2

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,

in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

That’s what the desert feels like. Not only do you seek God, which we should do during the good and not so good seasons of life, but we feel like we’re parched, dry from the heat, burned from the cold wind, we feel like we’re in that weary land where there is no relief.

Folks, that’s the desert. That’s what it feels like. So, if you enjoy your time alone, or feelings of solitude, it may well be that you’re not in the desert. Yet, the Spirit is moving through your life and God is challenging you.

3. One last thought before we move into the practical steps. When you’ve been in the desert for awhile, you may very well get used to being in the desert and coming out of the desert may be scary than staying in the desert. One of the things you’ll hear Bob Downey talk about tonight is that for many people who are in prison, it’s safer to stay in prison than to leave. They know what it’s like, they’ve learned to adapt to their desert. Leaving means you have to adapt to a new way of living, and that’s not always a joyous prospect. Yet, if God calls you into the desert; He will not abandon you in that process. If He calls you, He will also lead you, if you’re willing.

Okay, now, we can ask . . . What am I supposed to do while I’m in the desert?

Here are five practical steps you can do to prepare the way for the Lord to come to you in the desert of the soul.

1. Expect to meet God in the desert. It may seem overly simplistic, but if we seek God while in the desert, we will meet Him. He won’t hide from us, in fact, God’s great desire is to be a constant presence in our lives, especially in the desert, to teach us, to instruct us, to provide for us, and to lead us into spiritual and emotional growth.

You see, everything we do for God must be done in faith. If God says He’s coming, take Him at his word. Believe God is who He says He is. Believe God will do what He says He will do. He led you into the desert because He wants to say something to you. In Psalm 5:3, David said, “I pray and I wait in expectation.” Don’t wait in doubt. Don’t wait in fear. Wait in faith.

Make yourself available and expect to meet God. This means you open yourself as best as you can to God. You open your heart, your soul, your mind and your body so that you can tune into God. One of His great promises is that He will not fail you, nor forsake you; God will not abandon you or bail out on you because of something you’ve done. Instead, we’re the ones who run from God, He will never run from you. Remember, He loves you! If you love someone so much, then you don’t run from them, instead you love them, and that is what God does for you and I.

So, one practical step is expect to meet God while in the desert.

2. Start planting seeds now.

Consider the words God told Hosea, in 2:14-15 ~

14 "Therefore I am now going to allure her;

I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.