Quench your thirst at the oasis

It has been my experience that one doesn't wake up in the middle of the desert, parched and blinded by viewing miles and miles of nothing but sand. No, it's a gradual journey. We take one step off the cool grassy path. Then another. And another. We look around, pause to catch our breath and realize we are bone dry, sand in our ears and eyes, throat raw from lack of water.

The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow" (Isaiah 35:6-8 NIV).

"For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants" (Isaiah 44:2-4).

"but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13-15).

"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life" (Revelation 22:16-18 NIV).

Throughout my life, I've run smack into the desert many times - deep into it; so far in, I've looked around, frantic, unable to see a way out. I've spent many a sandy day and countless sandy night roaming in the desert--feeling desperate and hopeless. These days, though, I try to keep my eye on the oasis--just ahead. It's not going anywhere -- just waiting for me to take that next step . . . one step . . . then another.

More often than I care to admit, I am dragging myself there . . . clutching handfuls of sand toward the water that will quench me--that always quenches me--the only water that can quench me.

I don't like being in a spiritual desert, but I understand now that God does His finest work there. The sand abrades all the my rough, imperfect propensities. It polishes and shines, erodes and reshapes me to the form and vision God has for me. I'm learning not to panic in the desert, but rather to continually ask Jesus for the living water only He can offer.

I thank God for that water--it is life-sustaining. It is the only water that satisfies. Jesus offers it at the oasis. Jesus IS the oasis. He's had some desert time of His own and that is how I know He understands my thirst. It was in the desert that God's vision for His life became clear. It was in the desert that He came to fully grasp the breadth of His strength and the depth of His fortitude.

After crossing the desert, the water tastes especially cool and sweet. Join me as I quench my thirst at the oasis--Jesus Christ.

Blessings on your journey,
Mary

Hello, it's Me God! Just Need to Vent!

Thankful Thursday, Faith-filled Friday, Word-Filled Wednesday, Testimony Tuesday, Monday Manna. I've heard of all of these memes and more. I've participated regularly in some of them. There are some very good reasons I choose to participate in memes. As Christians we are meant to be in community and joining in a meme allows and affords me the opportunity to join with other in a common activity. It's fun, it's educational, it's a wonderful way to reach out to others and to be ministered to by others whom we may never meet on the earth in this lifetime.

Sometimes my husband even reminds me that I don't "have to" participate in a meme every week, if it's going to stress me out! At those times, I'm particularly thankful he is my husband, my best friend, and in many ways my mentor on all things regarding faith! (On the day-to-day, common sense, keep the wheels of civilization turning things I excel. It's on the real nitty-gritty aspects of faith that he far surpasses my ability and capacity.)

I'm one of those literalists when it comes to faith - and my husband generally agrees with me: if Jesus said it, He meant it - very literally and without need for expansion or deliberation! Feed the hungry means just that! Shelter the homeless, offer comfort to the brokenhearted, extend hope to the downtrodden . . . and on and on. He meant it both literally in very physical terms as well as in spiritual terms. We do diverge somewhat on the love and acceptance part, but that's for another post!

Love your neighbor. Worship the One True God. Trust and Obey. That's it -- everything else really falls in to place, don't you think?! Yes, I know that's very simplistic! I could talk with you for hours about this very topic and perhaps agree to disagree on where exactly one should draw that proverbial line in the sand. The bottom line, though isn't whether it's drawn nearer to one extreme or the other, but I think rather, that we even discuss it at all!

The past several days have found me shaking my head and asking - more than once - "What is wrong with people? Really, what is wrong?! No big tragedy or major misfortune has befallen me or anyone I love (for that I am truly grateful). It's just that sometimes the world seems so NOT what Jesus preached and I am challenged to live in it.

Sometimes I do feel like a stranger, a sojourner in a world that is oddly out of kilter with what I envision, imagine, hope for and strive for! Don't worry, I'm not "losing it"! (At least not any more than usual:-) I'm not about to hang it all up, throw up my hands and attempt to escape reality! Sometimes I just need to vent! Sometimes I need to talk myself back to where I need and want to be: squarely at the foot of the Cross! I long for heaven, but for now I'll take the shadow of that Cross where my Savior won me passage to heaven at the end of time.

So for today, I beg your forbearance as I bemoan my own lack of control -- knowing full well I'm not the one in control at all. I'll bewail the fickle circumstances of life that take us places we never imagined we would go and bring us back again stronger, surer and more in love with Jesus than when the journey began.

Today--this day--I thank God for His forbearance of my own failings and shortcomings and I am eternally grateful for His grace, extended to me on the Cross.

Blessings as you travel on your own journey of life.


"In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling" (Exodus 13:21 NIV).

"he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake" (Psalm 23:3 NIV).

"guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long" (Psalm 25:5 NIV).