Thursday, July 23, 2015

In the Desert

Road Trip Week 3.  We began our week in the desert.  In Phoenix, Arizona.  Where it is hot.  Really hot.

We spent two nights in Phoenix, and on Tuesday morning we were on the road again, destination Southern California.  Because of a bridge collapse on 1-10 in Southern California, we had to find an alternate route to the LA area.  Even though the bridge collapsed on the eastbound side of the freeway, there is concern that the westbound side may also be unstable, so the road is closed in both directions. 

There aren't that many roads through the desert.  The more southern route (I-8 from Yuma to San Diego) is also closed in some places because of wildfires.  That left only one option.  Head west, then turn north to I-40.

It was a long day.  I didn't take very many pictures because, just to be honest about it, the scenery never really changed.  We spent the day looking at this:


And then we arrived in Southern California and were greeted by this:

 

It was a long, frustrating day.

The desert can be like that.  Not just the Mohave Desert, but the desert times in our lives.  Those dry, barren times when we feel like we're getting nowhere.

We all face those times.  Even David, the Psalmist, faced these barren times.

"I thirst for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."  (Psalm 63:1b NASB)

David wrote these words in the Judean wilderness, another dry and barren place, much like the Mohave Desert we drove through on Tuesday.

Just as we sometimes do, David experienced a dry period.  How did he deal with it?  The answer is in the first part of that verse.

"O God, You are my God; I shall seek you earnestly."  (Psalm 63:1a NASB)

When, like David, we are experiencing dry, barren periods in our lives, the answer is the same for us as it was for him.

"I shall seek You earnestly."

Seek the Lord.

Seek Him earnestly.

He is the Living Water that satisfies our thirst, even in our dry, barren deserts.

"Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You.  So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name."  (Psalm 63:4 NASB)

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