When You Feel You Are in a Spiritual DesertSample

When You Feel You're in the Desert

Sometimes, as in the case of Elijah, God uses the wilderness to teach us new dimensions of Himself that we did not know: But the Lord said to him, "Come out, and stand on the mountain before Me, the Lord, I want to pass by" (The Lord is about to pass by), " Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice. (1 Kings 19:11-12).

Scripture teaches us that the Spirit of God is like a wind that blows wherever He wants (John 3:8), that God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29; 1 Kings 18), and that God causes earthquakes (Acts 16). In this case, God wanted to teach Elijah that He is the God who sometimes also whispers in the silence of the wind, a still small voice.

Oddly enough, the desert is also the place of miracles: God gives manna, quail, and water from the rock. There, God teaches us not to worry about tomorrow. It always gets rotten when we want to pick up manna for two days. God does not allow us to accumulate his provision. Here, it is not about stewardship, where God entrusted money and possessions to us that must be managed wisely. We must learn to live by faith in God. God gave Moses a staff in the wilderness — the miracles would be done through it. Through the rod, God demonstrated miracles for Moses. There will be miracles for the new work you'll have to do — and you need a staff from God.