For the last couple of years – up until about a month ago – I’ve felt a little bit like I’ve been walking through completely unchartered territory. I won’t bore you with all the details, but in some ways my life felt like a never-ending opposite day: what I thought would happen didn’t. What I didn’t think would happen did. And after a year or so of learning to expect the unexpected, my husband and I finally got to a point where we could honestly say, “Okay, God. We know there’s a lesson here. Help us learn it.”
Like so much of life, that time wasn’t easy. But you know what? It was good.
Several weeks ago in Bible study we watched a DVD that goes with Priscilla Shirer‘s Discerning The Voice of God, and she reminded us how God spoke to Moses in the desert. She pointed out that bushes don’t burn in palaces, and it’s in the “desert times” when we’re equipped for God’s plan. She went on to say that we need to be mindful that we don’t miss supernatural moments with God when we feel overwhelmed by our circumstances, so we need to focus on His activity during our uncertainty.
I don’t know what you’re dealing with right now in your life – what disappointments you’re facing, what plans you’re questioning – but please accept this tiny bit of encouragement from someone who has been in the desert before and will no doubt be there again: even when it might not feel like it, He’s working. He’s preparing. He’s equipping. Even when life isn’t working out like we planned.
Because here’s the thing about when God takes you through the desert: the path may be a little less clear, and the journey may take a little longer – but you’ll see and learn things that you would have missed completely if you’d traveled the shorter, easier way.
Be encouraged.