My brother-in-law manages the water plant in his town. We lived there, too, during our furlough in
The city and the wider area had
not had sufficient rain for five years.
Lakes and reservoirs were so low they only had enough city water for
three more months when we arrived. My
brother-in-law was out trying to make deals with landowners and the Osage
Indians to redirect any available water into the city supply. They were fervently praying for rain. It was quickly becoming a desperate
situation.
God answered, and
it did begin to rain. And when it came,
it did so with a vengeance. They went
from no rain to too much rain, from dry lakes to overflowing lakes. It rained for several months. Their drought was officially over.
Isaiah 41:17 speaks
of extreme drought, saying, “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is
none, and their tongue faileth for thirst.”
I’ve never been in that situation.
However, for many around the world, is it a sad, heart-wrenching,
current experience.
God uses the
example of a physical drought as a picture of the dryness of our soul. Here in Isaiah 41, I see six promises for
those wandering on dry land.
1.
He will hear.
V 17, God hears when his children cry.
He is aware.
2.
He will not forsake. V17 It might get very dry,
but God is still there. There is no
place one can go to be abandoned by God.
3.
He will open rivers and fountains above and
around. V 18
4.
He will place pools of refreshment and water to
spring up nearby. V 18
5.
He will provide, as Albert Barnes describes,
“unanticipated sources of comfort” that comes in the form of trees indigenous
to the desert. V 19
6.
And even in the desert time, V 19, the poor and
needy will find plant growth providing shade, beauty, and sustenance.
Why does God give these promises for desert times? Verse twenty tells us it is so we may “see,
and know, and consider, and understand” that the Lord is the one taking care of
us. He wants us to focus our minds back
to His goodness and provision, even when we feel dry.
Questions
started in my mind, “How do we wind up in desert places? Why do we so often wait
until we are in the wilderness failing for thirst before we cry to the Lord?
I’m afraid too
often we wander away and find ourselves parched for no reason other than stubbornness
and rebellion. We dry up because we have
not been feeding on the Word. We shut
off the streams of refreshment through unforgiveness or have angrily turned our
backs on God and headed straight to the desert to pout.
We could have come
asking for rain before the drought set in. We could have received refreshment and water
from His Spirit and the Word. We could
look and see places of shade, beauty, and sustenance, but instead, we lay on
our waste ground feeling abandoned and alone.
Our cries aren’t honest cries for help as much as they are muttering,
complaining, and self-pity. And often,
our circumstance is one of our own making.
You know what? God is still there and hears prayer. Desperate
situations do not cancel God’s promises. He is always listening. He has the
water and comfort we need, and He is ready and willing to supply if we will but
acknowledge His hand.
Verse twenty-one is
the Lord’s response to this situation.
What does He say? “Produce your
cause and bring forth your strong reasons.”
In other words, “What’s wrong, tell me why you are here. Bring forth proof that you are in the right
place.”
Did your parents
ever put such a challenge before you?
Mine sometimes did. I would get
into a foolish mood, and they would take me by the shoulders, make me look
straight into their eyes, and ask, “What are you doing? Why are you acting like this?”
That would catch
my little mind caught off guard. I
didn’t know why I was acting like that most of the time, but sometimes I was
angry with my sister, or I didn’t want to do what was asked of me. I knew my childish heart was guilty.
Well, when God’s
eyes meet ours, we melt in the same way.
We might have ignorantly wandered away, but most usually, we know the
angst in our hearts and the excuses we are giving. It’s time for us to accept
the refreshing waters and the comfort of the shade beneath His wings and allow
our souls to be replenished. There is no
reason for us to continue in the desert when God takes us by the shoulders!
Barnes, Albert, Barnes Notes, Isaiah. P 90-91
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