The Desert

miss_tpa

Nov 11, 20237 min read

One thing is definite about everyone at this minute. Everyone is going through something. We just finished week of prayer at my church and it is clear everyone is in need of prayers. We are all going through situations that we want changed and for some of us we believe prayer is the only way. My testimony is that this week I also learnt something that can help me through my own situations.

Sometimes when I am thinking of how God works, or when I hear a sermon I can imagine a scenario of how I think God puts things together. But I know this is not just me imagining things, I believe for me this is how God knows he can drive a point across so I can understand. I love it! Whether I remember it during key moments is another thing.

The one I love so far, is the one I wrote in the blog titled The Dinner. I have another scenario about marriage but I will share that another day. In fact I have another one and I will share that too. Like everyone else, I have things going on and I am so eager for God to change the situation. I know one of the many things about God and that is his timing is never mine. I want things changed yesteryear! He has his own time and for a reason that is under the umbrella of his plans are for good and not for evil. So this week, he reminded me and my impatience the following.

One day me and God were walking and talking and talking and walking. We were having fun and laughing. I knew we had walked for a long time but I wasn't feeling it. I thought it must be because God is with me otherwise my legs would have given in by now. I remember in primary school, we did a 10K walk on a Saturday and afterwards my legs were not able and I didn't make it to school on Monday. God and I had definitely walked way over 10K. At different points, God would look at me for a few seconds, smile, I would smile back then we would continue walking. One time I asked him, why he was looking at me like that all smiley. He said "I love looking at you." I thought to myself, God is so sweet.

At some point, he looked at me and said "T.P.A, (my nickname) lets sit." We sat and talked. I asked God all sorts of questions and it was all good. I thought we would only sit for a few minutes but we sat and sat and sat. I asked God if we were going to continue our journey and he stroked my cheek and just smiled. I looked around and there was nothing. We had walked into a desert.

I thought to myself that we wouldn't stay here because the desert is hot in the daytime and cold in the night, this would be a quick stopover. It wasn't. I didn't say anything to God initially because I "trusted" him. When I finally said something, after the "trust" had worn off, he asked if I trusted him. I said yes. He stroked my cheek, smiled and didn't say anything. I decided to explore the area since clearly we were going to be here for a while. In my exploration, I found a cave and I thought I heard the sound of water. When I went closer, I slipped in between some rocks and my foot got stuck. I called out for God and the true father he is he came and helped me out.

I asked God if he could give me something because I wasn't getting why we had walked so far and why we were in the desert. I can put the answer he gave me in relation to my current situation. This answer is what has helped me through my situation.

God has been gracious to me all through my life and I have accomplished various things, personal, professional and spiritual. This was the time we were walking and talking and everything was good. Everything was good because for the entire journey God had carried me and this is why I didn't feel anything. The last 21 months of the last 3 years have seemed like nothing is happening. This is the part of the journey where me and God were in the desert. There are things I have tried to explore as a means of helping myself out of this desert place, but they have not come with the victory I thought they would bring, and I have had to ask God for his help. True to his character he has helped and when I opened my eyes, there have actually been many wells in this desert. Opportunities that I didn't think of but God brought them to me.

But here is what's been the gamechanger for me that has put me in good spirits in this desert, this week. Good spirits in a desert? Only God! Don't let the devil fool you that its impossible to be content and have joy when you are going through life. When I asked God why we had sat in the desert for so long, he said when he looked at me, he saw that I was tired and needed to rest. In real life, I have shared how I have been working through Long Covid for the last 3 years. But God knows the other things that I have gone through that can make one tired, some I have shared some I haven't shared on this blog.

Instead of seeing the desert as a place where nothing is happening, I have reframed the desert as a Divine spa. A place to rest and recuperate from all the things that have happened way beyond the last 3 years. Whereas I may feel ok, or feel the Long Covid is the only thing I need healing from, God knows that is not the case and rest is best. The desert brings total healing so I can be the whole person he created me to be. Physical healing for the body issues, Emotional healing so I can reflect and grow, Spiritual healing so I can be in God's Masterclass and learn how to rely on him without withering faith or trust and ultimately get to eternity.

The reason healing takes place in the desert is because its just me and God. No distraction, no competing responsibilities, no chance of missed priorities and hierarchy. Growing the business can't come first because growth of the business is on a Divine pause. In the desert its God first, because he is all I have and that is always a wonderful thing. In the desert, I have the accurate understanding that it is only God who can help me. In the desert I have been able to see that the other things I am praying for will come with a schedule that will not be desert paced.

In the desert I can therefore enjoy this period of rest, because there may be no other time like this! This makes the desert an exciting place to be because I can do anything I want, how I want, when I want. Exactly! the desert brings freedom!

God needs me to rest because the plans he has ahead, need me to have been well rested and ready to put the gear on 5. The cave, though appealing, results in injuries that I did not anticipate because I have human eyes and will always have finite knowledge. God has infinite knowledge and wisdom and he can see what I cant see as per the previous blog post. So really, the desert is not a place where nothing happens. It is a place of so many purposeful and beautiful things. Healing, rest and preparation not just for the things to come in this life but preparation for eternity.

If my eternal life is in jeopardy, God is very much willing to take me to the desert because the thought of not having me with him when Jesus comes is out of the question and he will save me by any means necessary. It doesn’t mean my prayers don’t mean anything to him, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want my business to prosper, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want me to have a family, after all he has the “patent of love and marriage” as I just heard pastor Snell say. God wants beautiful things for me, far beyond what I could possibly imagine. If he needs to take me to the desert, he will. He is very serious about my life in a way no human could. Not even my mom or future husband.

Things are not always what they look like. Feelings are also the biggest liars. When I have operated with the truth of what my desert is intended for, I have seen a big difference in my attitude. I have eased off the pressure I may have been placing on myself. I have really taken things easy this week. I haven’t killed myself by making sure I have worked the set times I put for myself because if I am in the desert, Only God can change that. When he feels I have rested enough in every way possible, He will move me out of the desert.

This week has been one of easing my leg off the accelerator and it has brought me peace, jolliness, and contentment. It has been very freeing to let go of expected outcomes at expected times. When God is in the desert with you, it easily turns into a place of life and rejuvenation as opposed to the harsh realities it’s supposed to be in the natural. There is no way God can let the desert harm or overpower you when he is right there with you. Am I surprised? No and for 3 reasons. God is Good, God is Great, God is Ultimately the Best.

Related Verses

Psalm 30:11-12

Matthew 18:10-14

Job 28:24

Isaiah 46:9-10

Jeremiah 17:9

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