TransformSample

When you are in the middle of a desert you have no desire to be in, that desert can start to play tricks on you. With nothing but sand, sagebrush, and relentless heat beating down as far as the eye can see, it can be easy for you to give up hope. 

It feels like the desert will never end. 

The same can be true when the desert you are in isn’t a literal desert at all. Such as when you find yourself at a place in life or ministry where hope seems impossibly far off, and you feel as dry and empty as the most barren of wastelands. 

My own deserts were some of the most difficult times in my life. They were times of true frustration, failure and brokenness, times where I felt like the only right thing for me to do was to walk away completely. 

One truth about deserts is that you can easily find yourself in one and not understand how you got there. You’ve trusted God, taken steps of faith, sacrificed because you felt God leading you in a direction, and now here you are in the middle of a desert you never saw coming. 

So now the question becomes: What do you do when you are in your desert? 

One thing I’ve learned, one tool I’ve clung to, is to surround myself with truth that remains constant despite my current circumstance. One profound anthem that continually helps me remember some of those truths is called “Desert Song” by Hillsong. When I feel like I am in the most difficult of deserts I remember verses like this: 

This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer and my hunger in need
My God is the God who provides… 

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

He provides, He guides, and He wins. All that is required of us to cry out, remain faithful, and believe in the victory to come. But maybe the most important truth we learn about God and ourselves during our times of discontent is this: God does some of His best work in deserts.  

- Matt Pierson