Sweat drains down the sides of your face, sand swirls around your feet in never-ending tornados as you stagger across the sun-baked ground. Behind you lies a trail of luggage. Everything had been going great- right up until the car broke down and left you stranded in the middle of a godforsaken nowhere and half-way to nothing.
Why? Why did this happen? Why? You fall to your knees and shout at the crystal blue sky above. WHY? Then out of nowhere a battered truck chokes down the road, it clatters to a stop and the weathered driver offers you a ride. With relief, you sink into the seat that had seen better days 30 years ago as air conditioner blasts in your face. Ok well, that was horrible, but now, everything will be ok. Then you spot the town ‘Nothin’ Special’ printed on a weathered sign, underneath POP. 150- that’s counting the critters.
Your heart sinks as the engine starts coughing smoking. Great. Just great.
“Sorry, this is as far as I can take you,” you nod not trusting your voice and slide out of the truck as the driver lifts the hood.
See the culture and wisdom of Egypt gave Moses much of the background he needed. But it didn’t prepare his character or spirit for his role as God’s prophet and Israel’s deliverer. A seemingly pointless 40 years in the desert did.There God seasoned his servant, just as Abraham, Joseph, David, and so many others were seasoned as they spent long years in the proverbial desert, preparing for their calling.
Sometimes it seems that God has set us aside, forgotten us in a dessert. When in reality He’s undoing our self-efforts, equipping us with character and building our faith. Most, if not all, spiritual heroes have spent time in a “desert”
When you feel like you’ve been left in the dessert remember, He doesn’t put you there without a reason.