Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Every one has their desert

I like what Paul Miller says about the desert place in our lives:

"God takes everyone he loves through a desert. It is his cure for our wandering hearts, restlessly searching for a new Eden. Here's how it works.

The first thing that happens is we slowly give up the fight. Our wills are broken by the reality of our circumstances. The things that brought us life gradually die. Our idols die for lack of food......

The still, dry air of the desert brings the sense of helplessness that is so crucial to the spirit of prayer. You come face-to-face with your inability to live, to have joy, to do anything of lasting worth. Life is crushing you.

Suffering burns away the false selves created by cynicism or pride or lust. You stop caring about what people think of you. The desert is God's best hope for the creation of an authentic self.

Desert life sanctifies you. You have no idea you are changing........
The desert becomes a window to the heart of God. He finally gets your attention because he's the only game in town....................Without realizing it, you have learned to pray continuously. The clear, fresh water of God's presence that you discover in the desert becomes a well inside your own heart.
The best gift of the desert is God's presence."

I have found this to be very very true in my life. ....and in the lives of my friends. God really uses these deserts (and he sometimes literally and figuratively did so with Jacob, Moses, Jesus, Daniel etc). It is amazing how God can drive us to Himself.

What do you think?

4 comments:

  1. Fabulous and so true!

    Pecking one handed today.

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  2. I think you and Paul Miller are right! In fact, I know you are. Soldier on.

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  3. Oh I love this , when I was younger before my children , I lived in the woods of TX , some called my homeless , I considered myself blessed. It was my dessert , god used it to teach me silence , so that I might understand and hear him better.

    I was so humbled. Before my "Dessert" came i was wild and lost and faltering in faith of any kind.

    oh , the difference it made in my life.

    such a great difference.

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  4. Dawn, Clif and Mrs Flam--I agree with you all deserts make a difference.

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