Desert
Lessons
By Karen
D’Amore
“I am about to
do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you see it? I will make a
pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create rivers
for them in the desert!”
Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)
Everything was new and unfamiliar:
newly married…newly retired…and newly relocated to a state distant from my
family and friends. This new land was dry, dusty and desolate; a stark contrast
to my lifelong coastal paradise. Moving from my California beach-town to the
Las Vegas desert was God’s plan…not mine!
Once following God’s call into
full-time ministry, my new desert translated into a “spiritual desert,” a
wandering wilderness for my soul. For four years in that barren desert, I never
once felt at home and experienced heartache, loneliness, betrayal, persecution
and serious illness. The testing process stripped me down to the bare emotional
essentials, where I could no longer hide from personal truths. But it resulted
in a deepened faith and renewed inner life that clung to God in total
dependence. Parched…I hungered and thirsted for Him, like never before. I
was no longer in control. Choosing to let go and let God deepen His purifying
work, I gradually responded in surrendered obedience.
Biblically, the desert is not a
place to stay forever, but rather a process of pilgrimage, a journey we must
travel through. My desert experience was a time of spiritual purification, preparing
me for a new life of freedom and love, in a land that God would
eventually reveal. The wilderness drew me to discover
spiritual vitality in the depth of my heart - - a hidden oasis - - planted by
God. An obedient heart was the necessary component for
responding to God’s plan and mission for my life. Hindsight clarified the
purpose in those desert lessons, revealing the necessity of each and every
difficulty and hardship, as God’s testing and refining tools.
Now, on the transformational end of
that desert journey, God has called me to that revealed land.
And as I’m living out God’s mission and plan in this new land, I am overtly
aware of my inability to have fulfilled His mission without responding in
obedience to those invaluable desert lessons.
Jesus spent forty days in the
desert, where He obeyed the Father through testing and suffering. This is
equally true for us. Through testing and suffering, we are challenged to obey
and choose between God and evil. Jesus emerged from the wilderness, prepared
for His ministry and mission… obediently proclaiming the Kingdom of God all the
way to the cross. As Christ-followers, our desert lessons prepare us for our
God-ordained missions: to ultimately draw others to Jesus!
GOING DEEPER:
1. Do you resist or respond
to your desert experiences?
FURTHER READING:
Married to Dan, Karen, a retired
police officer, currently works as a Manicurist at Craig Berns Salon
and Foot Care Specialist at Shorehaven Senior
Facility. She also serves on Oakwood ‘s Women’s Special Events team.
