Through the Desert: A Study on God's FaithfulnessSample

A Song in the Desert

I’ve noticed lately that I’ve spent so much time adjusting to delays and detours and deserts that I’ve left little time to rejoice in God’s answers to my cries for help. Perhaps some of my reticence in rejoicing has been my self-made strategy to protect my heart from more pain. I’m afraid to get my hopes up. I’m afraid to believe that God might in fact give me the breakthrough I long for.

But breakthrough does come, even in the desert! When it does, we need to be sure we spend time celebrating.

Today’s devotion is all about rejoicing—about dancing and singing our hearts out to the Lord in our desert places. Our reading is from Exodus 15, when Moses and the Israelites celebrated God parting the Red Sea so that they could escape Pharaoh’s army. Even though they weren’t out of the wilderness yet, God had miracles in store for them. What had looked like a disaster became the highlight of their lives so far. God literally separated the waters so His people could walk through the sea and safely away from their enemy. God delivered the people of Israel with a strong and mighty arm, and He did it for one reason only: His glory!

The people of Israel were astounded by this miracle of deliverance. They were in awe. I can’t begin to imagine the joy they must have felt when they got to the other side of that water. The desert had become a place of worship!

Worship in song is one of the primary ways for us to declare the glory of God. Did you know that the song in Exodus 15 is the first song recorded in Scripture? It was later called “The Song of the Sea.”

This beautiful passage reminds us that even in the midst of our pain, there is always room for rejoicing. Most of us live with one goal in mind: we want to make it out of the desert! Yet God’s leading into the desert is not accidental, nor is it incidental. It is meant for our good. He invites us to focus not on escaping the desert but learning how to thrive in the desert—not because our circumstances have changed, but because He is with us through it all.

What song has filled your heart this week in meditating on God’s faithfulness?

This plan is presented to you by Through the Desert by Lina AbuJamra, an Esther Press resource. To learn more about this book, click here.