Desert, or Just a Change of Scenery?
Every one seems to be telling me I'm in a desert place. I burned out in jr. high ministry so I'm taking a season off and all I seem to hear from everyone is: this is a desert time. But I don't think it is. I don't feel distant from God, rather I feel he's chilling right next me and I'm enjoying peace with him. Though I'd been hearing everyone's commentaries on my spiritual I picked of St. John of the Cross' "The Dark Night of the Soul". Which is a great book and I enjoy it greatly but this time round it just didn't hit me, convict me, or encourage me as it did before. I started listening to an excellent sermon series on lonliness (www.thevillagechurch.net "only the lonely" Paul Matthies) and though I've been learning a lot and I've ejoyed the teaching, there's a part of me that says this isn't entirely where I'm at though.
I don't feel distant from God. I don't feel lonely. I feel quiet. I'm waiting. And learning to do so patiently.
God has one Plan A for all of our lives and in that Plan A there must be times of waiting. Waiting and quietness (or stillness) does not always denote a desert place. I think we too quickly slap the "desert time" tag on our soul when we are not vibrantly on fire for God, with tangible expressions of our faith. Its easier to stomach then just resting in the Lord. Because when in the desert there are things we can do to get out, there are endless lists of advice on how to walk out of these times, or find the oasis and the life. Its easier in the desert to fix ourselves then to rely on God. However I find I am quite enjoying the waiting time. Its a time of peace and quietness. My ministry has not been diminished or put on pause...its just quieter. I'm enjoying chilling with Jesus and getting to know him more...through prayer, quiet time and reading. Its great.
You that point in a relationship where you don't always have to talk when with that person...how that's a sign of something good, that you can sit in silence (not out of anger) and not feel awkward, like you need to say something. I feel like that with God. Its not a desert, its just a time of waiting an stillness...no awkwardness, no striving, just being. And I know it won't last forever so I know I should cherish this moment for what it is.
I don't know what lies ahead of me, what God is having me wait on but you know I'm totally content. I know God is good and that he makes us wait sometimes, which doesn't mean our life is put on hold, it justs means we wait, and life might look different, might look to others like the desert but there is life.
I went to Mt. St. Helens yesterday and I think the secenery there describes this best. The drive up is beautiful, lots of good 'ol Washington green and great landscapes, you get great peeks at the monstrous mountain, snow capped and hiding under some clouds. Its just beautiful. Then you reach the top and it looks like a desert. Its dry and very little grows but if you look you see growth, you see life. The lava dome is growing at a rate of six feet a day. There are shurbs growing back and flowers, beautiful purple, yellow and white wildflowers. There is life, but it looks different and looks like a desert, though it is no way a desert.
I don't feel distant from God. I don't feel lonely. I feel quiet. I'm waiting. And learning to do so patiently.
God has one Plan A for all of our lives and in that Plan A there must be times of waiting. Waiting and quietness (or stillness) does not always denote a desert place. I think we too quickly slap the "desert time" tag on our soul when we are not vibrantly on fire for God, with tangible expressions of our faith. Its easier to stomach then just resting in the Lord. Because when in the desert there are things we can do to get out, there are endless lists of advice on how to walk out of these times, or find the oasis and the life. Its easier in the desert to fix ourselves then to rely on God. However I find I am quite enjoying the waiting time. Its a time of peace and quietness. My ministry has not been diminished or put on pause...its just quieter. I'm enjoying chilling with Jesus and getting to know him more...through prayer, quiet time and reading. Its great.
You that point in a relationship where you don't always have to talk when with that person...how that's a sign of something good, that you can sit in silence (not out of anger) and not feel awkward, like you need to say something. I feel like that with God. Its not a desert, its just a time of waiting an stillness...no awkwardness, no striving, just being. And I know it won't last forever so I know I should cherish this moment for what it is.
I don't know what lies ahead of me, what God is having me wait on but you know I'm totally content. I know God is good and that he makes us wait sometimes, which doesn't mean our life is put on hold, it justs means we wait, and life might look different, might look to others like the desert but there is life.
I went to Mt. St. Helens yesterday and I think the secenery there describes this best. The drive up is beautiful, lots of good 'ol Washington green and great landscapes, you get great peeks at the monstrous mountain, snow capped and hiding under some clouds. Its just beautiful. Then you reach the top and it looks like a desert. Its dry and very little grows but if you look you see growth, you see life. The lava dome is growing at a rate of six feet a day. There are shurbs growing back and flowers, beautiful purple, yellow and white wildflowers. There is life, but it looks different and looks like a desert, though it is no way a desert.
posted by KJ at
11:43 AM
1 Comments:
see...oswald chambers says to deal with your own spiritual state by yourself. i second that motion. screw everyone who says you're in a desert place if you know different.
everybody told me i was fine for a year when really i wasn't...just don't listen to them. only what's between you and Jesus matters.
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