Reflections on Israel - The Desert

The desert land is something so very different up close compared to only seeing pictures of it. The barren land is a reminder of how empty, how different it is, in relation to the world we live in. To stand at the edge and understanding its true implications can change your soul.

The Israelites were made to wander the desert land for forty years prior to entering the promised land. Jesus spent forty days in the desert before starting his ministry. So what makes the desert so important?  Why the desert?

The implications are simple. In the desert, in the wilderness, we have only one choice, that is to rely on God for our every need. We will only be able to get what we need day by day.  We cannot look ahead and save for the following weeks. Each morning we will have to trust God for what we need. The Israelites had to learn this as they were molded into a people that God could use to enter the promised land and inherit it.

All of us will go through a time in the desert. We should never shy away from this or run from it. We should bear the desert in our lives every day. To remind us how much we need to rely on God for our every need. You can be moved away from the desert, but never should the desert leave you. It is in this place, this barren land, that our faith in God grows. As a famous quote goes, God builds character, not comfort.  And true character and faith in God can only be built in the desert.  So yes, God will send us to the desert many times in our lives, though He does this to grow us, to prepare us for what He has planned in our lives.  Do not be afraid of this, God will provide for you during this time. And He will create something better in you, something more like Him. As Psalm 22:1-5 says:

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,

    and by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy,

    enthroned on the praises of Israel.

4 In you our fathers trusted;

    they trusted, and you delivered them.

5 To you they cried and were rescued;

    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.