The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
part of my early hesitation to take God fully for His word stemmed from the story of the Israelites and their time in the wilderness. to this day, when i read that story i can never fully appreciate all that they went through, but i’m tired and sad just the same. i cannot imagine forty minutes in a wilderness like they endured, let alone forty years. i wonder what they thought of their time there. i wonder how they waited like that..
as you may know by now, i love to dig into Scripture and find the original words that were inspired. in this passage, i felt drawn to “blossom.” to me, it’s an interesting word to be inspired here. people survive the desert.. they don’t blossom from it, right?
the word that blossom is translated from is “parach.” some of its definition includes:
“to break forth as a bud; to bloom. to spread; specifically to fly, as extending the wings. to flourish; abroad and abundantly. to spring up.”
it seems odd that God would tell us that the wilderness, the desert, would blossom. but it makes sense if we apply it to our lives right now.
today i want you to picture the parched land, as described in our verse of the month. picture land so dry and desperate and fragile that it crumbles under pressure. comprehend a land so empty and void of life that anyone in it will begin to be sucked into that reality. imagine land so thirsty that it will soak up anything it comes into contact with.
could you see a bit of your weary spirit in that vision?
how often to we feel so alone and desperate
that we would take just about anything to get by for one more moment?
i speak for myself here..
i have survived a desert that seemed to never, ever let up. i walked in my desert while a God i verbally denounced hovered over me in care and concern. i leapt into pit after pit, became tangled in sin, felt the waves of conviction as He moved in my heart, and numbed them all with the world as i continued down my crumbling path.
but all along, i was nourished by the same faith that kept our Lord alive for forty days.
each day i was moved by the same Spirit He breathed out when He hung on the Cross.
and when it was time.. His time.. i saw the light and i grew up in my salvation
and then i burst into bloom. i blossomed from that dry and desolate place.
we were created to grow. we were wired to desire everything we know we are capable of. we were given more knowledge and intuition than we give ourselves credit for. when we follow God, and we live in His presence this path is easy. when we sin, as we did that day in the garden, we are forced to learn things differently. God wishes for us to have all we were destined to have. He desires a relationship with us that surpasses all that we don’t even know we want. the desert is the only place where He can gain our undivided attention, and so, it is from there that we find the most fertile growing ground.
this month, as we celebrate growth, reflect on the time you have spent in pain and silence, wandering and wondering. in those most quiet and dry moments, your Lord was there. He had a plan for your time there, and if you are still there, He is still working.
what moments can you look back on and see God was there,
though you didn’t know it at the time?
i encourage you to fill your heart on the promises of Isaiah 35, and know that you will soon burst into bloom
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