“O God, when You went out before Your people, When You marched through the wilderness, Selah The earth shook; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God; Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, When it was weary.” Psalms 68:7-9 NKJV
Reflection: have you ever felt as if God is leading you from plenty into the desert?
Many Christians, devoted followers of Christ, have experienced at some point in their lives going from having plenty to having nothing. Might be a loss of money and possessions, loss of a job, loss of relationships, or even loss of health. Some even have experienced more than one loss happening at the same time, almost like a “perfect storm” in life. And we cry out to God, to bring us back to plenty; to restore our wealth, our careers, our relationships, our health, etc., but it doesn’t happen. It feels like as if we are in a “desert”, a wasteland. And we compare our own situation with others, even people who hate God, and they seem to have it all together, and wonder why.
The Israelites were living in Egypt, in a land of plenty. They had houses, work, families and relationships. But, they were slaves in Egypt, not free to worship their God and thrive as a people. Their cry to God was to free them, to bring them out of slavery, to freedom. To the promised land. But instead of going to something better, God brings them out of Egypt into the desert. Into a wasteland where nothing can grow. No water. No houses. Nothing. And they soon start grumbling. Why would God bring them from Egypt, to a desert? They would have to fully and completely rely on God. For everything. God would even only give them enough food for one day at a time! Total reliance on God.
Now, you might remember from the story that some of the Israelites started grumbling about life in the desert, having to rely on God for everything. Having to trust Him. Eating whatever He provided. When would He give them “the promised land”? How long would they have to eat the same food day after day? They compared what they had back in Egypt, thinking they had it better there, even as slaves. Some wanted to go back to Egypt, to the life there, even if it meant slavery. And some started worshipping idols in the desert as God wasn’t giving them what they wanted, making up a fake god in the form of a golden calf.
There is a parallel story here for many Christians. When God leads us out of slavery, of bondage in the world, into the desert. It is difficult to experience, to go from what seems to be plenty, worldly speaking, to a desert landscape where we have nothing. Where we have to rely only on God. And we might look back, thinking that we had it better before, when we didn’t follow God so closely. Life was simpler when we could live more like the rest of the world. It can even feel like the closer we walk, the less we have. Until we have nothing left. Until we finally discover that we have
to rely on God. For everything.
Then He can lead us. It isn’t that He doesn’t want to give us all good things, all blessings of health, relationships, wealth, joyful experiences. As a good Father, He wants all of that for His children. But we easily get confused, and lose focus, on Him first, who is the provider of all good things. He is our God. And in His wisdom, His love for us, sometimes He needs to get our attention, and show us that He alone is God. For us to rely only on Him.
He is the God of the desert.