The most 'unfertile' ground

O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! (Psalm 63:1-3)

Growing up in the Arizona desert, I have walked many a dry wash, climbed over huge boulders, and been pricked by more than my share of cacti. It is dry, filled with all kinds of dangers, and barely livable in many parts. Water is not easily found, nor is it readily available if you were to drill for it. Many places have to truck it in right to this day. You can be so 'dry' in the desert that you actually crave water. It doesn't seem all that fertile, does it? What seems like the most 'unfertile' ground in our lives may actually be the place where the greatest growth occurs. Something you may not realize is how many 'distractions' are removed when you are in that desert place in life. It is as though the only thing you begin to focus on is Jesus, because all the other stuff you had been distracted by just doesn't matter when you get good and thirsty for his presence. I think of the dry places as 'fertile ground' - they have been the times when God does some of the greatest work IN me because I have drawn closer to him without all those distractions pulling me away from him. Maybe we don't actually want to go into these dry places, but if we find ourselves in the midst of the 'desert' spiritually or emotionally, we might just want to spend some time getting to know him just a bit deeper right there.

David was born into a family of sheep herders. He was to follow along in the footsteps of his father, Salmon. He was not raised to be a king, but he was raised in a home of faith - he knew his God and he served him even from the earliest of his days. He learned much in his early life, tending the sheep out on the lonely grazing lands, moving them from one grazing place to another while protecting them from all manner of evil that sought to end their lives. Even after being anointed as king, he didn't immediately 'live the good life' in the court of the king. We find him hiding out in caves, scaling peaks he could use as a vantage point in escaping from the armies of Saul. His life wasn't 'worry-free', but it was 'rich' because wherever he went, his God was right there with him. Can you say the same? Do you find the dry places in your life to be the most 'fertile'? It may not feel like it when you are wandering around in that 'wilderness', but when you finally come into those places where 'barrenness' seems to be replaced by 'beauty' and 'peace', you realize how much was accomplished in the desert. 

One of the most profound things about the desert is the thirst you develop while there. Maybe this is why God allows for us to experience those 'dry places' in life - so we will develop a hunger and thirst for righteousness! Remember, what seems like the most 'unfertile' ground may actually be the most fertile place you experience. Just sayin!

I am wilting....

Have you ever ended up in a place where you just thought it was 'too dry' and a 'little barren'? As the summer sun heats up the Arizona desert, it is easy to 'get behind' in our fluid intake - especially when the day gets going and we forget to take time to seek out the water we so desperately need. When we finally feel ourselves 'fading' from the heat and the intensity of our thirst beginning to nag at us, it is oftentimes a little late in the process! We are squarely in the middle of the dry place and there is just no alternative to turn to in order to find the satisfaction we desire. God doesn't leave us thirsty, but he never says we won't have times when we 'thirst'!

Directed by God, the whole company of Israel moved on by stages from the Wilderness of Sin. They set camp at Rephidim. And there wasn't a drop of water for the people to drink. The people took Moses to task: "Give us water to drink." But Moses said, "Why pester me? Why are you testing God?" But the people were thirsty for water there. They complained to Moses, "Why did you take us from Egypt and drag us out here with our children and animals to die of thirst?" (Exodus 17:1-3)

Why on earth would a huge band of wandering people actually "camp out" in a place where there was absolutely no visible water for their basic physical needs - drinking, hygiene, and watering of the animals? I think we just don't "think" about where it is that we "camp out" until we realize our 'camping spot' isn't going to provide for all our needs. We "get going" with God really well, then all of a sudden, we find ourselves "camped out" at a place that seems barren, without any provision for our basic needs, let alone our spiritual needs! Then what do we do? We might just complain to God because we are in a barren and dry place! There are times that I wonder if God would just as soon answer us with a resounding "Duh!" instead of his overwhelming patience.

"Directed by God" - revealing to us that they weren't in a barren and dry place totally because they just wandered out their on their own. They were on a path with God and came upon this dry place. The fact is, we don't know what the path will hold, but God does. He is aware of the exact points of "barrenness and dryness" that are part of the wilderness journey and he prepares a way out of the desert place (in his time, of course). Coming out of the desert place is often done in stages. We seldom find that moving from the wilderness into the land of plenty is ever a "direct" journey for us. In fact, we see that the wilderness almost presents obstacles to us. We wonder if we will ever get out of that place! Water was essential and they had none. It likely seemed quite impossible to them that they'd ever leave the wilderness without the provision of water they'd need to make the journey. We would probably equate this to the various "things" that keep "coming up" in our journey with Christ that seem to "trip us up" a little. The fact is, God prepared this people to make the move to this very place. Therefore, there must be a provision in what appears to have little value at the moment!

Why do we move by stages through the wilderness? God might just need enough time to teach us the lessons of the wilderness. There are a lot of lessons that we only become attune to when we are stripped of all we depend upon and are brought face-to-face with our utter need. In those places, no provision that we could make on our own will get us through. In fact, we keep camping out at the bitter waters and the dry places, completely unaware of the miracles that lie just beyond the points of our intensest need! The waters you face in the wilderness today may be a little bitter, if they exist at all. The bitterness of reliance on our own efforts, past failures, disappointments of missed opportunities - all need God's touch to truly make them "sweetness" in our lives. In the place of barrenness and thirst, we finally find that God's touch is all that will take care of the bitterness we have experienced. Don't curse God for the barren place, but thank him for the miracle that is just around the corner. His purpose in the barren place is just to drive us further into his provision! Just sayin!

Dry does not equal barren

Okay, admit it, you just didn't think I'd be able to come up with any character trait for the letter "x"!  Well, sorry to disappoint, but I actually do have one: Xerarch - the ability to grow in dry places.  If the truth be told, many of us face those "dry places" in life much more than we do the really well-watered ones!  Those "barren" places just don't look very promising when we are smack-dab in the middle of them, do they?  In fact, the very word "barren" suggests "sterile" ground - unproductive, unfruitful.  I challenge this idea, though.  I think the barren places are the exact places God will choose to show his power in our lives! 

If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people’s sins, if you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.  I will always show you where to go.  I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—firm muscles, strong bones.  You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry.  You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past.  You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.  (Isaiah 58:9-12 MSG)

A full in life in the emptiest places - isn't this the same as "dry places"?  Dryness actually produces emptiness.  Emptiness begs to be filled.  Even dry places become "collectors" of something.  Here in Arizona, we have dust storms from time to time - big ones!  The roof shingles get a real workout with some of the high winds!  What do those winds do in the driest places?  They stir up the dust, moving anything which has withered and become "brittle" in the heat of the day.  One of the things we are known for is our tumbleweeds.  In the midst of the dry places, these weeds spring up, wither and die - leaving mere skeletons of what once was.  When the winds come, those are easily plucked from their spots and are carried away in the winds.  The desert floor will be littered with the results of the windstorm - not much to look at, but signs of growth once there.  What we don't see is the result of the winds - they move the seeds and spread the soil over them.  In the coolness of winter, the rains will come.  The growth once evident on the desert floor will once again be seen.  Even dry places have the promise of growth!

Our lives are much like the desert floor at times - filled with all kinds of "tumbleweed" issues.  They spring up, looking like they are going to produce something of real value in our lives, but they just cannot stand the heat of the day, so they wither where they took root.  Plucked up by the storms of life, the "floor" of our lives is cleared again to become the planting spot for the things which promise lasting growth.  Until the dead stuff is cleared, the "void" we really have cannot be filled.  The dead stuff takes up valuable room in our lives - they have to be cleared away first.  I take heart in the words of our passage this morning - God uses the rubble of our old lives to build anew! That means even the stuff which looks dead has a purpose!  As those tumbleweeds blow across the desert floor, they serve as a "sweeper" of sorts. They begin to gather other dead rubble in their path and sweep it along in the path they are taking with the force of the winds.  As the old is cleared away, the place for newness to spring forth is prepared.

If you have ever studied the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem found in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra, you will understand what I am going to say next.  They didn't "start over" with the building materials - they used what they had, salvaging what could become useful again when placed in right order.  Some of the things in our lives are simply not in "right order".  Sure, we need "new materials" to be infused, just as Nehemiah and Ezra did, but there is some portion of our experiences, past learning, and even our past mistakes which can be put in "right order" again.  Once in the "right order" those things no longer become stumbling blocks, but foundation in our lives!

God uses the old, brings in the new, and ensures the way is made for the dry places to bring forth something afresh and promising.  The dry places seem more frequent in our lives because they are the hardest to endure.  Anyone hiking across the desert will tell you it is the hardest hike they have taken - until they try to climb Everest!  The altitude of the highest peaks can also be our "undoing"!  We long for the "peaks" and "lush valleys" in life.  The point between both may very well be the driest places - God stands smack-dab in the midst of the driest place, his hand poised to bring forth growth where none seemed possible.  Just sayin!