Preaching in the Desert
By Peggy Kleckner
By Peggy Kleckner
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Matthew 3:1-2
Matthew 3:1-2
I read this verse one morning and was struck by the phrase “in the desert.” I looked up “desert” in my Webster’s New World Dictionary and found this definition: 1) an uninhabited region; wilderness 2) a dry, barren, sandy region. What an odd place to preach!
Sometimes, I feel as though I am in a desert. My spiritual life feels dry and barren, which makes me think, “Who am I to speak of the things of God?” Then along comes God’s Word to remind me that He can call us to preach even from our dry places. In fact, oftentimes it is in our desert places that we remain the most desperate to hear God’s voice and so we are the most attentive to His smallest whisper.
Perhaps that is why John preached in the desert. Perhaps it was the place He heard God best.
I also have to wonder if, at first, John wasn’t preaching to himself. In our desert places, we need to speak God’s Word aloud so that our soul can hear truth. Oh, how the enemy loves to cloud our thinking with lies! Speaking God’s truth aloud for ourselves and to others reminds us of whose we are and all that He has promised.
So, I will join John the Baptist and lift my voice “in the desert.”
“A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the LORD, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3
GOING DEEPER:
1. What has God been asking you to do for Him? Have you believed the lie that you can’t because you feel you are “in the desert”?
2. What Scripture do you need to preach aloud to yourself?
FURTHER READING:
Matthew 4:1-11; Psalm 107:8-9
Peggy is a wife and mother of four adult children - two sons and two stepsons. She is the Co-coordinator of Oakwood’s Wednesday p.m. Bible Study.
Sometimes, I feel as though I am in a desert. My spiritual life feels dry and barren, which makes me think, “Who am I to speak of the things of God?” Then along comes God’s Word to remind me that He can call us to preach even from our dry places. In fact, oftentimes it is in our desert places that we remain the most desperate to hear God’s voice and so we are the most attentive to His smallest whisper.
Perhaps that is why John preached in the desert. Perhaps it was the place He heard God best.
I also have to wonder if, at first, John wasn’t preaching to himself. In our desert places, we need to speak God’s Word aloud so that our soul can hear truth. Oh, how the enemy loves to cloud our thinking with lies! Speaking God’s truth aloud for ourselves and to others reminds us of whose we are and all that He has promised.
So, I will join John the Baptist and lift my voice “in the desert.”
“A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the LORD, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3
GOING DEEPER:
1. What has God been asking you to do for Him? Have you believed the lie that you can’t because you feel you are “in the desert”?
2. What Scripture do you need to preach aloud to yourself?
FURTHER READING:
Matthew 4:1-11; Psalm 107:8-9
Peggy is a wife and mother of four adult children - two sons and two stepsons. She is the Co-coordinator of Oakwood’s Wednesday p.m. Bible Study.
