You are probably familiar with the popular Hillsong tune, "Desert Song". It's a beautiful song describing the different seasons of life we go through: the desert time, the fire, the battle, the harvest...seasons common to us all, seasons in which we ought to let God rule. I thought I would spend some time blogging about the desert time, aka, the wilderness...seeing as I have found myself in this season for the last several years. I hope these meditations will help give you some perspective when you find yourself in your 'wilderness'.

In the desert you feel like you are going to die. In the desert God gives you just enough. There's no sustainable outpouring, no overflow, no abundance. You get only what you need to keep you going. There is something called a broom tree that can be found in the desert. Thank God for the broom tree. It's a small tree, a shrub really, that provides very little shade. It wouldn't seem like much to a person who rarely wanders in the desert but to the middle eastern men that are very familiar with desert travel, this broom tree is a welcome respite from the unbearable heat. It provides just enough shade to refresh the sojourner so that he can continue on until he gets to the next broom tree.

The Bible tells the story of a man named Elijah who was running for his life from a Jezebel-of-a-woman named... well, Jezebel. She wanted to kill him. He was tired of her, and afraid, too, so he ran for his life. Here's what the Bible says, "while he himself (Elijah) went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors."
Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat,” ...because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God." (I Kings 19)

Elijah found his refreshment under the broom tree in the desert. Be thankful for the broom trees you come to in your wilderness. There God speaks words to you that will sustain you, encourage you, refresh you, and stengthen you. He will give you just enough of what you need to continue in the desert. Thank God, for 'just enough', 'just enough' is good enough!

In this present culture, the word "obey" has become a type of 4-letter word. It is usually thought of as a negative concept. Yet, Jesus taught that if we obey His teachings, then we are really His disciples.

Is obedience really so negative? Not when you understand who you are following, and who you are obeying. God is awesome. He is incredibly merciful, unbelievably loving, all-powerful, just, holy, and good. When you have become intimately acquainted with Him, obeying Him is easy; in fact it's a joy.

If you have difficulty obeying Him, you have yet to really know Him. A man or woman who has become a friend of God will not find His commands burdensome.

Reminds me of the old hymn that describes the life of a disciple who understands who he is following: "Midst storms, and clouds and trials, in prison, at the stake, he laughed for joy, rejoicing, "Twas all for Jesus' sake!" That God should count him worthy brought such supreme delight. He cried, "The yoke is easy, the burden, it is light!"