Streams in the Desert

If you have been reading Rhema for awhile, you may have noticed that for a few months, it seemed like everything I was writing was about making it through or surviving the struggle. It was and is a very real season for a lot of God’s people right now. The enemy is running rampant and the world is getting crazier by the minute. But God is calling us to restoration, if we are ready to receive it. This morning as I was praying and waiting for the Lord to speak, I saw the phrase “streams in the desert” and it literally jumped off of the page. It seemed to sum up that struggle to get to the place of renewal and rejuvenation that we all want so bad to reach but can have a hard time getting there.  I kept waiting for God to tell me what I was supposed to say but all I heard was silence. The longer I waited the more real it became. I couldn’t hear a thing and yet I had to keep going, functioning and waiting. I went to Isaiah 35 where the phrase is found and it began to make sense. You see, sometimes the drought and the trial seems like it will last forever but God has already prepared your green place. The key is recognizing where you are and that God is more than able to restore.

In order to really understand, God took me back to Isaiah 34 for a minute and it began to be clear. If you read this chapter, Isaiah is prophesying to the nations about the judgment and tribulation that is coming. It is filled with vivid images of death and blood and it is guaranteed to come. It’s desolate and it’s chaos. “It will be called the Land of Nothing and all its nobles will soon be gone. Thorns will overrun its palaces; nettles and thistles will grow in its forts. The ruins will become a haunt for jackals and a home for owls.” (Is. 34:12-13 NLT) Doesn’t sound very promising, does it? As I read this chapter, I could see some of you. I could see how you have been living in familiar places that have turned to ruin. They have changed so much that you hardly recognize your surroundings or the people.  The turmoil has taken its toll on you and your faith to the point that you are crying out for water and for life. I was then reminded that Jesus told us that we would suffer as he suffered. There was no promise of an easy or free ride but there was a promise of redemption.

And so we find ourselves back in Isaiah 35. This chapter is the homecoming celebration after the war. It is the vision of God showing off his glory for us. You see this is what God wants you to look towards. This is His message to those of you that are reaching for restoration but are not quite there. “Energize the limp hands, strengthen the rubbery knees. Tell fearful souls, ‘Courage! Take heart! God is here, right here, on His way to put things right and redress all wrongs. He’s on His way! He’ll save you!” (Is. 35: 3-4 MSG) This chapter is a vision of the ultimate restoration. “And when He comes, He will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf.  The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy! Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland.  The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land. Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived.” (Is. 35:5-7 NLT)Can you grab a hold of this? Can you see that God is a present help and that He wants nothing more than to see you walking in joy and life? I love the visual of water breaking through dry ground. It is a symbol of life after death and rejuvenation. It also tells me that where you may be at this present time is not your destiny. And once God does it, once He brings you out, it’s yours and you won’t have to face those same giants again because He won’t allow it. “There will be a highway called the Holy Road. No one rude or rebellious is permitted on this road. It’s for God’s people exclusively— impossible to get lost on this road. Not even fools can get lost on it. No lions on this road, no dangerous wild animals—Nothing and no one dangerous or threatening. Only the redeemed will walk on it. The people God has ransomed will come back on this road. They’ll sing as they make their way home to Zion, unfading halos of joy encircling their heads, welcomed home with gifts of joy and gladness as all sorrows and sighs scurry into the night.” (Is. 35: 8-10)

My prayer for you today is that you receive what God has for you. That strange land is not your permanent home. That place of discouragement, exhaustion and fear is not where you are purposed to be. You are destined for watered and satisfied ground.  So if you are starting to tire out and feeling like you won’t make it, have no fear, I see the streams sprouting up in your desert. Get ready to thirst no more…

AMEN