Surviving Chaos

From time to time I’ve visited this site to see if there was any activity. And from time to time I would read the comments left based on some of my prior entries. One could say that they proved to be an encouragement through my travels in my personal desert.

To explain what I’m talking about I would like to draw from two “desert” experiences found in the Bible. The first is the story of the Israelites as they traveled from Egypt to the Promised Land. This was a journey that was supposed to take a few months at the most to travel, but due to their disobedience and lack of faith in God their journey took a little over forty years. That is the story we (especially as Pastors) tend to focus on. The fact that God has our best intentions at hand and it is through obedience that we learn to trust in God completely. But I believe there is another lesson to be learned; that of Preparation. You see the hearts of those who had come out of Egypt had not fully learned to place their trust in God so obedience to God became difficult. But after that generation fell away, God raised up a greater generation that fully trusted in the leadership of God (for some time). It was this desert experience that prepared them for the Promised Land.

The second “desert” experience takes place in the book of Acts, chapter 9. The character; Saul of Tarsus. The Event; Recently converted to Christianity he flees Damascus due to the treat of harm. And where does he go? Jerusalem? Samaria? Rome? No, he goes into the desert. According to the Acts account it seems like he flees and then goes to Jerusalem, but according to Saul’s own words in Galatians 1, he goes into the desert. We don’t know the specifics of what happened in the desert but we do know that it is another three (3) years until he returns and finally goes to Jerusalem to meet the other apostles. Again I believe that God was taking time and Preparing Saul for ministry through his time in the desert.

So what does this have to do with anything? I honestly believe that I have been having a “desert” experience for the last few months. A time where God has been defining and redefining my calling and ministry. And while in the desert, I’ve experienced times of stretching and growth pains; times of spiritual hunger and thirst; and times of total reliance on God. I honestly believe that God is preparing MaryEllen and I for something greater than we can imagine.

If you are finding yourself in a “desert” experience, don’t become anxious. God has a way of taking the desert and preparing his people for something greater than they ever believed possible. For when we are in the desert, our total focus and dependence is in God, our provider.