Friday, January 07, 2005

An appropriate devotion for today

I found an appropriate devotion in my in-box today. It came from Ephesians Four Ministries, and it dealt with the desert. As you might have noticed, I've been living in the desert for some time now. I was going to just copy and paste the devotion here, but the little copyright emblem slowed me down. So I'll give you the main point.

The point is that God uses the desert to convey His message to His people. He knows our stubborn hearts and knows that to accomplish His most important work, He must lead us into the desert. When we're there, the things that hinder our relationship with Him are stripped away, and we're forced to rely on Him alone.

The message was this: don't fear the desert, because it's there where we can hear God's voice like never before.

So this is where I am, and it might not be such a bad thing. I'm still not happy. I'm still not feeling like I want to be here in the desert. But it's kind of like fasting, which I think is a voluntary trip into the desert. God uses that time to speak to me. And if I can listen, if I can tear myself away from the busy life I'm leading, then I can hear God's voice clearly. I want to hear it now; I don't want to wait 40 years (ala Moses or the Israelites). 40 days and 40 nights? It's been a lot longer than that. Of course, I remember that I'm a stranger here, an alien in a foreign land...

Oh God,
The desert is hot and lonely. Please show me the reason I'm traveling in the desert. Help me to learn Your ways, Your purpose, Your will in this. Guide me through this journey and help me to emerge a more faithful child of God; the person You want me to become. Thank you for being with me; for carrying me along the way.
With praise and honor to You, I pray.
Amen.

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