For as long as I can remember, when Christians speak of being in a "dry place," it is usually considered to be a negative thing - a place where we aren't supposed to be and would only admit to with close friends.  This is not the impression I get from reading the Bible, however.

Not only did Jesus purposefully enter the wilderness on a regular basis, but historically, God has chosen to meet with men and women in these dry places.

Consider when the Israelites came out of Egypt:  we usually talk of their time in the wilderness as a time of great misery - as though they were brought through the Red Sea with great victory only to be plunged into a hot land of delusion and disappointment.  Is that truly God's view on the wilderness?

I was reading Isaiah 43:15-21 the other morning and began to piece together a different type of picture in my mind.  First, God declares Himself to be the Holy One, the Creator of Israel, the King Who made a way through the sea and destroyed the horse, army, and mighty warrior in the process.  This was a great and mighty act of love and protection from a God towards His chosen people.

But then He says an interesting thing:  "Do not earnestly remember the former things; neither consider the things of old.  Behold, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it?  I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert....that they (My chosen) may set forth My praise." (v. 18-19, 21)

Why would God so directly want to turn their attention from the miracle of the Red Sea to the wilderness ahead of them?  What did this desert hold that was so important after such a sign of His right hand?

First, the Red Sea was a point of demarcation; it was a boundary between the old and the new.  Before the sea was a land of bondage and death, the sea itself held the dead remains of the enemy, and the wilderness beyond was a place of freedom and God's provision.

Yes, the Promised Land was of great importance, but I wonder if the wilderness was not even more important.  It was the testing ground - the deciding place.  It was a place of God revealing Himself in a whole new and deeper way.  Would His people trust Him completely, confident of His goodness, wisdom, and power?  Those who believed God to be Who He said He was moved on into the Promised Land; many did not.

Isaiah 43:20-21 amazes me:  "The beasts of the field honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen, the people I formed for Myself, that they may set forth My praise."

The beasts gave honor to the Mighty Jehovah for providing water in the desert, and yet most of Israel, the chosen of God, failed to recognize this astonishing provision.

Do you find yourself in a dry place today?  Don't look back towards the land of your bondage, or even the place where God miraculously saved you from your enemies.  Those seasons are over and He now has you in a very important place:  He is longing to reveal Himself to you by sovereignly providing for you in a place of barrenness.

His desire?  That we would set forth His praise in this most hot and dry place!  He longs for a people who trust Him so much that even when there is no water in sight, we will praise Him and adore Him, knowing that at the right moment water will spring forth from the sand.

Father, lead us forward.  We trust You to feed us with Your right hand and bring water forth from the ground.  We choose to honor You in this place of our affliction, knowing that someday we will look back on it with great affection.

 

Amy