Deserts and Desserts

I remember the day I stopped misspelling “desert” and “dessert.” It was 2nd grade and my teacher said, “You don’t want more time in the desert, but you always want more dessert. Right? So, dessert has more S’s just like you would want more dessert.”

It’s 50 years later and I haven’t forgotten that lesson. I still want more dessert and I prefer to avoid deserts. Especially the spiritual and emotional deserts that feel lonely and scary. I mean, deserts are hard, and desserts are far easier to enjoy.

But easier isn’t always better.

Have you ever felt like you were alone in the Sahara and God had forgotten about you?  Maybe your own sin or the sin of someone else led you to that place.  Maybe the loss of someone or something you loved led you there.  Maybe the world simply spun you around and dropped you in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable place without any idea of how or why you got there. I’ve found myself in each of these deserts over the last few years. But I’ve also discovered something that has changed my attitude towards these seasons of life.

The word for “desert” in Hosea 2:14 is Midbar. It literally means desert, wilderness, uninhabited land or large tracts of land. It’s used in scripture, often, to describe the place in which people found themselves lost or in trouble. (IE Hagar, Moses, Israel.) The root word for midair is dabar/davar and it means “word.” The word medabber comes from the same root word and shares the same letters as midbar but it means to speak. In the New Testament, the word for desert or wilderness is “Eremos.” It means deserted, uncultivated, lonely, neglected or deprived. If we take the whole of Scripture to interpret this idea of the desert or wilderness seasons in life, we see a much more beautiful idea than my second grade mind could understand. The desert is a solitary and difficult place, but a place where God meets with his people to speak with them.

Think about how often God led his people into the desert and how often he met with them, spoke to them, led them, prepared them and dwelt with them there. The Midbar was where God got the attention of his people, changed their hearts and encouraged their souls so they could walk into his promised blessings.

Beautiful!

And he still does that today.  As painful as the Midbar can be, I’ve seen people come out of those seasons changed. I’ve seen God turn troubles into hope and dry hearts into fruitful lives. That’s his heart’s desire but it means accepting the role we have in the Midbar…surrender.

That’s not always easy, my friend.   I know that all too well. God and I have met in the desert many times over the years.  Sometimes, I surrendered to his leading and to his plan. Other times I chose to avoid and run and fight.  That never ended well.  At best, it prolonged the healing that he had for me.

Surrender is easier when I know and trust that the God who walks with me in the desert is also the God of blessing, love, life, hope, healing and peace. I don’t have to be afraid when I’m alone because he walks with me and knows the way through any terrain or season. So I’ve changed my view of deserts a bit. They are hard and I don’t want to willingly walk into one, but when God leads me there, I can trust that he has something to say to my heart. He intends to change me for the better if I will let him, and that’s a lesson I hope I never forget. 

Hosea 2:14-15 (NLT)  “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.