March 20

Psalm 63, Luke 4

I found it interesting that David's Psalm and Luke's account both refer to a time of being in the wilderness. Though both men found themselves alone and surrounded by desert, there was certainly no desert in their hearts.  By definition, wilderness is a desert, a neglected, uninhabitable, abandoned region or isolated place. But what if God wants us to stop and think about those times when we find ourselves not so much in a physical wilderness but in spiritual wilderness? We've all been there.  Those times when hearing God's voice when we need it the most ends up in silence. When feeling His presence, and trusting in His goodness and character seem like a dream. When we feel much like the Israelites wandering through a desert, not understanding why we've been led them there. Here is where I loved the Psalm though. David's firm faith enabled him to claim God's promises as his own. He found his hope not in circumstances but in God. He compares his longing for God to being in the wilderness where there is no water and thirst becomes an unquenchable longing for the most essential support of life; - water. There is no reasoning with it, no forgetting it, and no overcoming it. Just as only water can satisfy the thirst, only God can satisfy this craving of the soul. In Luke's account, Jesus shows us His total dependency on God and His word to carry Him through His wilderness trial. Perhaps the take away from this is that when we find ourselves in the wilderness, sitting in the presence of God is the best place to be. Even though that may sound counter intuitive, it's most likely the enemy that would rather have us believe that to be true. God is sovereign and always in control. I would like to encourage us all with this quote from Charles Spurgeon: "When the bed is the softest we are most tempted to rise at lazy hours; but when comfort is gone, and the couch is hard, if we rise the earlier to seek the Lord, we have much for which to thank the wilderness." 

Randi