Desert Flower

It's been a while since I've written, dear reader. It's not that I haven't tried, as there are times I write a whole paragraph...and then proceeded to delete it and log out. So, now I am resolved to write at least once a week-no matter what. 

It's amazing to me how the season I'm sitting in can have such an effect on what comes out of me, or what doesn't come out of me. I'm talking seasons of the soul. Sometimes the seasons are exciting, full of adventure and challenges. Sometimes they're full of hurt and sorrow. Sometimes full of rain and growth. And sometimes, they are incredibly dry.

That's where I find myself now: stuck in the middle of a desert season. It takes everything in me to write, to praise, to press in. It's so tiring. I find myself pleading with the Lord to "lead me up out of the wilderness already!"And then he leads me to passages like Hosea 2. He talks about alluring "her" to the desert to "speak tenderly to her", to woo her. Umm...I'm inclined to disagree with this idea. Do you not realize how stinking hot the desert is?! I'm smelly, sweaty, sticky, cranky, thirsty and you want to "speak tenderly" to me?! Are you joking?! No. Apparently not. Okay then, so what am I doing here?!

Have you noticed the beauty of the desert flower?, he says. Seriously, Lord? You want to talk about flowers? I'm in the desert so thirsty and tired, and You want to talk about flowers? And then it hits me. That realization, that understanding that comes only through Holy Spirit. A desert flower is beautiful. It's resilient. It lives through conditions that would cause most plants to wither and die. So, he wants me to be a desert flower...not a flower that is just "pretty" but a flower that can withstand intense heat-stand under fire, so to speak. Ok. Great. Make me a desert flower. Easier said than done. Because I long for this season to be over. Remember, it's hot, dry, and uncomfortable. And I'm still feeling smelly, cranky, sticky,  and thirsty. 

What was that, Lord? Something about rain? Watering the desert flower? Seriously, I'm in the desert and you want to talk about flowers and rain? And then he leads me to Isaiah 43. Streams in the desert. Water in the wasteland. Right...I can get the whole becoming a resilient desert flower thing, but rain in the desert Lord? Come on. "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"

What season are you in friend? Are you in the same place I am wondering why He's brought you to a certain place? Are you staring at that last question, like I keep doing, and saying, "No. No I don't perceive it!" All I can tell you, is to keep pressing in. Keep seeking His face. Seasons are just that-seasons. They don't last forever. I have to remind myself of this daily. I also have to remind myself that His word is good and true. That I can take Yeshua at His word. He spent 40 days in the desert, literally and figuratively. He knows what He's called me to walk in. He knows what He's called you to walk in. 

"I know the end of the story: I come up from the wilderness leaning on my Beloved."-Strong Love, Jon Thurlow