Why Am I Planted In This Desert Waste?

And now she is planted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land. (Eze. 19:13)

This verse does not sound very hopeful to us down here below. Our view of God's great plan is often skewed to the depressing by the limited vision of our earthly station. In Ezekiel, the prophet tells us that the whole promised land thing just didn't work out. So, God sent them round the desert for a bit - a 40-year bit. And now she is planted in the wilderness. But what can God bring out of that planting?

We look around and sometimes we think that God must have made a mistake somehow. Surely, the land of the Lord's abundance does not look like this? Why, my house/shack/trailer/hut only has 2 rooms, and that car/horse/cart won't go this morning, and did you see the state of my fridge/pantry/garden today? And we don't even want to go into that job, the insecurity, the low pay (and isn't it always, no matter how much we are blessed with?), the terrible working conditions, and that boss, aagh, surely he/she must have been bred in the pit of hell. What a miserable lot of moaners and complainers we can be on a given day! Yet, the Spirit leads us back to God's planting.

What joy and mercy are in the planting right where we are this day! If we can hold that steadfast faith and release the Spirit to encourage and enlighten us, we might just see a bit of God's workings as He grows us in a barren land, or even realize that this land is not so barren as the prince of this world might like us to see.

Each of God's children, reborn in Christ and saved by the blood of the Lamb, may spend some time planted in a desert before we are ready for the promised land. However, grumbling against the Lord's will and way is probably not the way to grow in the faith. Trusting, believing, and obeying the Lord in all things no matter where He has us planted today that is the path of wisdom for us.

Praise God for His great and patient love!
Bucky