Dry days, part 2

I'm blessed to find that I'm not in the desert alone.

Several of you have shared that you are "out here" with me.

Thank you for your wonderful love and comfort.

Others have offered to "bring me a drink."

Your love and support is a very real blessing. Thank you so much.

I think my problem, and the problem I see in others is the desire to always be near an oasis, to always have water near. I want "cool water" available to me all the time. But if God didn't take me to the desert once in a while I wouldn't know how to trust him.

The desert is the place where I do not have what I need, and so I look to God. It's in the desert where faith is built. In the desert is where I see miracles. It's here where I really hear God.

When everything is easy and comfortable I'm not as sensitive to God's voice. Elijah found that true when God led him to the mountain of Horeb. It was there that he heard God's still small voice. It was there, in the desert, where he met with God.

If that's where God leads people so they can meet with him then I think I will stay out here a little while longer....I'll get to the oasis eventually, but for now I'm listening for that still small voice...water can wait.

1Pe 1:3-7 (The Message)- What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven--and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all--life healed and whole. I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.