A River In The Desert

You who are my wonderful blog readers are on my mind a lot. A lot! I think about you, I write with the hope of helping you in your journey of healing, and I pray for you. Often.

So of course I would be thinking about you as we move into a new year! Because with a new year comes the promise of hope. And hope is something some of you have a hard time hanging on to. Because the pain you carry is great and it weighs on you every day. And you truly want the hope of new things, but perhaps have forgotten how. To hope.

Well today I want to do the hoping with you and for you. And to tell you that God cares deeply about your pain. And wants to give you encouragement and hope and relief from the agony of wrong done to you.

There is a place in the book of Isaiah where God is encouraging his people who are demoralized. He is asking them to not call to mind the former things and not to ponder things of the past. Why? Because He is up to something in their lives that is going to help them break from that past.

God says to them “Behold I will do something new!” He wants them to be watchful for something brand new in their lives. And to make sure they know that He understands some of their struggles he says “I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.” These were images God knew would reach His peoples heart. Making a roadway in a wilderness in those days was extremely hard work. It sometimes took years. And that would have been enough of an image of what He wanted to do for them, but in case they didn’t get it He also said He would give them “rivers in the desert.”

Can you imagine that? A river in the desert? I have been living in Phoenix for awhile and I can tell you how much rejoicing there is around this place when it rains a few drops! But a river? Plopped down in this desert? I have a hard time imagining that!

Well, that’s the image God wanted His people to have about what He wanted to do in their lives. That was very different from the “former things” and the “things of the past” He wanted to release them from. And today the same God wants to release you from your former things. And do something so new in your life that it is like building a road in your wilderness or landing a river in your desert!

Ask God to show you what He wants to do for you! If you have never asked God for anything, and if you don’t even know Him as a personal Friend yet, ask Him anyway. God is SO ready to answer the honest prayers of people in need. He wants to connect you with Himself in a real, honest-to-goodness personal way, and then He wants to bring new things into your life. He does. Always has.

So, as you look at 2015, don’t go into it without asking God to help you make a roadway in your wilderness. And hold on to Him as you make this journey. He is a sure and loving guide through this terrain. And message me if this seems scary and out of reach for you. I would love to be part of the guide team for your 2015 journey!

Mark Phelps