Waiting On God in the Desert

Elijah said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea [for a cloud].” He did, but returned to Elijah and told him, “I didn’t see anything.” Then Elijah told him, “Go again, and again, and again, seven times!”  I Kings 18:43  The Living Bible

Beloved, are you fainting in prayer? Has it pleased God to lead you into a dark cloud of trials that never lifts? 

We often wonder if God is even listening. Is He an indifferent observer while his children hunger for shreds of hope? While Elijah prayed for rain, his servant returned six times to report a dismally clear sky. 

Has your absolute faith resulted in absolute failure?

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Paul E. Miller writes in A Praying Life, “It’s a short trip from determination to despair. It hurts to hope in the face of continued failure, so you try to stop hurting by giving up hope.”  

Demons of despair try to sift through the spoil of your soul’s battlefield. Weary rises from the parched earth and wraps its tendrils around your soul without mercy.

I believe our Lord chooses a few rare souls to accompany him in solitude in the desert. He teaches these precious ones the invaluable lesson of how to trust when circumstances are fatal and hope has fled. 

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As He carries us through the desert, God charges us to cling to Faith. Stubborn. Persistent. Ridiculous faith. A trembling bravery that stands despite dismal circumstances because it’s anchored on an all-powerful God’s passionate promise to redeem the darkness of every tomb, of every broken heart. Of your broken heart.

In Elijah's pivotal moment, just as in ours, angels are watching.

You see, our Redeemer is weaving our story. Faith allows us to believe God is working in our lives, even as our lives unravel.  Amid our trials, God bids us to open our hearts and watch for signs of His tender faithfulness. He lovingly reveals facets of His character we could have never known without the desert.

When the trial is finished, we will look back and discover God’s desolate roads were actually His mercies in disguise.

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The seeds of our pain will surely bloom into future grace. In God’s hands, Satan’s own venom is transformed into a venue to display our Creator’s extravagant love for us.  The battlefield is God’s— and He is already the Victor!