Deserts

"I spread out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land."

Psalms 143:6

That verse just spoke to me today.  I especially love the simile at the end--my soul thirst for You like a parched land.  How beautiful.  

It made me think about the deserts of life.  It can certainly feel, when you're walking through one, that you'll never find that oasis your heart has been longing for.  It can feel like the desert is too vast for your weary feet to travel.   

And yet, deserts are miraculous places! Did you know that deserts cover over 1/3 of the surface area on earth?  That's a lot of land.  Did you know that deserts are second only to tropical rain forests in the diversity of plants and animals that live there? Deserts fascinate me, because at first glance, they seem like a barren, desolate place....and yet, in reality, they are teeming with life.      

And then there's the part about desert oasis'. 

If you look up the definition of an oasis, you'll find the following: A fertile or green spot in a desert or wasteland

A fertile or green spot in a desert or wasteland.  Can you see where I'm going with this?

I think I'm starting to understand the desert.  And I'm not talking about the physical one.  

Maybe God allows us to walk through deserts to teach us to rely on Him--on the Living Water.  When we drink from the spring of His love and mercy, we form our own God-oasis that surrounds us and covers us from head to toe.  Water--the living water, in this case--is what makes the grass green, what develops and grows in us a Godly character.  My oasis is my God. As I begin to rely more and more on that oasis, I see that what I felt and saw as barren and isolated is really teeming with opportunities to know God, to walk with Him, and to grow in my knowledge and understanding of His character. 

Wow.  I'm loving that promise today.   What a blessing it is to be loved on by the Almighty God.  I just can't get enough.