Hope in the Desert

Life can have long and hard stretches: it seems like a dirt road at times and we're walking barefoot. Every step feels hard and dry and painful. We can certainly feel like the Pilgrim in Pilgrim's Progress.

There will be long, straight and dusty stretches in this walk, desert places so to speak, but there is purpose even in the desert place. Take the attitude that God has got you in the palm of His hand in that desert place, speaking to you and forming you. Let the Son bake you until you are perfectly cooked in Him - don't fight it!

Hope and vision keep us going during this time. We call out to God, who has perfect timing and never let's His word fall to the ground, and lift His word of promise up to Him in thankfulness. Then we suddenly come around a bend on that dusty, desert road and see things we couldn't see on the long, straight stretch. Those things were there, but we couldn't see them until we got around the corner. Somehow that long road changed our ability to see. Turning the corner made things seem bright and clear and there was relief and joy. Now we shake off the dust and keep moving forward.