The Paradox of Peace in the Desert 

What if the desert is the only place where you can learn certain spiritual lessons? I'm reminded of Psalm 63, verse one, where David says, "O God, my God, earnestly do I seek you. My soul thirst for you. My whole body longs for you in a parched and weary land where there is no water." David is talking about this same place, the Judean Desert—the wilderness, you see.

What if you begin to reframe the way you look at the desert, the deserts in your life? Perhaps you're not in a real desert, in the physical desert, but you find yourself in an emotional state of loss. You feel like you have no resources left. You see, in this Psalm 63, David reveals an incredible paradox. He says that God is better than life itself, and that he, God, satisfies him more than the richest of feasts. How? He's in the middle of a desert, he's being persecuted, he's fleeing.

But it's in those moments when you have nothing, when you're confronted with your weakness, when you're confronted with your lack, when you're confronted with the reality that you have no control at all, that you get to look up to heaven and to see, like David, under the shadow of your wings I will find refuge. And so I want to encourage you. If you're in the middle of a desert, can you look at it as a privilege? Is it possible to reframe it in your heart and say, "God, I have an opportunity to see you be the provider. I have an opportunity to experience you like I've never had before," because it's in the desert that you prove yourself to be faithful.

It's in the desert that I get to see your goodness. It's in the desert that I get to see you provide the manna for my daily bread. It's in the desert that I get to see you be my sustenance. And so as I stand here in the Judean Desert, I want to bless you with this blessing. May all your expectations be frustrated. May all your plans be thwarted. May all your desires be withered into nothingness, that you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child as you sing and dance in the compassion and love of God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, Amen.