We
moved out to our 23 acre mini farm in Ohio the Spring of 1987 the grass was
growing and the flowers were blooming. I never saw anything more lovely and
green in my life! We had a big storm the second night we were there that
knocked our electric out, and wondered how many more we would have to endure
that Summer. The answer ended up being zero. It never rained again. By mid
Summer everything looked to be dead or dying, and the ground started to crack. The
ground became drier and drier even though I tried watering and watering. It
didn’t seem to help, but then I noticed my hard work had not gone to waste. Something
was indeed growing! The soil was fertile... for weeds! The dry and dusty ground
was indeed a fertile place.
Even
in good weather when plants are thriving, the weeds grow and spread much faster than
the plants I desire to keep. It’s as if the weeds need very little to germinate
and grow. I
think the same thing happens to us. God brings us to a dry and dusty place for
the
purpose
of creating something beautiful. Sometimes we think nothing will grow in the
place God has put us because it feels like a dry and barren desert. But that’s
not true!
The soil God has planted us in is indeed fertile ground. It is a soil in which
God desires
to nurture us through our struggles and drive our roots deep. God’s desire is that
we would trust Him and bloom with thanksgiving, praise and joy even in a
desert. Too
often we respond to His nurturing by giving back a bumper crop of weeds in the
form of complaint and doubt.
The
Israelites were no different. God brought the people of Israel out from Egypt and and
was moving them towards a beautiful land that had been promised for years. One
year into the journey the Israelites find themselves between the lush green
land of Egypt and the
Promised Land. They are in a desert. Seemingly nothing will grow in this
“Land Between.” But the Land Between, despite being a desert, is fertile ground for
many things to grow.
If this is where you find yourself look with new eyes today and see God's hand. It's there.
