Key scripture – “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1).

The desert holds a special place in God’s Word. The Scriptures portray the desert as a place of inspiration and exaltation – a place where people met God in a powerful new way. King David wrote the 63rd Psalm while in exile in the Desert of Judah. He was hiding from his son Absalom, who wanted to kill him and replace him as king of Israel.

For Joseph, a deep pit in the desert was the first stop on a 13-year journey through desolation and despair. (Genesis 37:23-24), That 13-year desert experience served to break Joseph’s self-will and self-confidence. It taught him that he could not control anything and that he needed to rely on God to manage the events in his life. Joseph’s desert trial prepared him by scorching the youthful pride and arrogance out of his young life so that when he was 30 years old he could rule Egypt at Pharaoh’s side in a spirit of humility and servant-hood.

Before becoming king of Israel, David was a shepherd. Part of his training for leadership involved hand-to-claw combat with the beasts of the wilderness, including the lion and the bear. (1 Samuel 17:34-36). Elijah learned the principles of spiritual leadership while in the wilderness, (1 Kings 19:4-18), and Jesus was tempted and tested for 40 days in the desert before He began to preach. (Matthew 4:1-2).

Daniel shows us one of the most dramatic examples of waiting in the Bible. Daniel was praying and fasting for the people of Israel who were being oppressed, and he abstained from food and drink for twenty-one days, as he labored and persisted in prayer. As he pleaded, and agonized, he did not receive a response from God, at least that is what he thought. On the twenty-second day an angel of God appeared. He revealed to Daniel that his prayer had been heard on the first day but the answer was delayed because the prince of the kingdom of Persia tried to stop the angel of God from getting to Daniel. (Daniel 10:13-14).

From an earthly perspective, nothing was happening. But from a heavenly perspective a battle was raging in the heavens. God was working! What if Daniel had given up…lost faith…or walked away from God? Now consider these questions: What if you give up? Lose faith? Walk away? Don’t do that! Do not cower or flee, you have the Power of God in you. Stand strong because God is at work. You will be victorious. Just because you do not see what He is doing, does not mean He is not working on your behalf, and just because You can’t sense His presence, does not mean that He is not right there with you. Do not believe your feelings instead believe what God has said about you and your situation. Keep waiting on God, keep waiting on His plan to be fulfilled, keep waiting on His perfect timing, and you will see it. Be still and know that He is God!

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, I know that You are doing a thousand things right now that I cannot see, I also know that I will see them when You want to reveal them to me. I will keep My eyes and my heart focused on You. I know that there is a purpose for what I am going through and very soon my present sorrow will be just a memory; but my love for You and my fellowship with You will be deeper and sweeter beyond anything that I can even imagine. You are the God of all comfort who comforts me in all my afflictions. You are Yahweh Shalom – The Lord is Peace. Instead of going back and forth with all kind of bad scenarios in my mind and saying to myself, “How am I going to handle this? What am I gonna do? This is going to destroy me. I don’t know if I can go forward. I am afraid to face tomorrow.” I get on my knees before You and say, Our Father in Heaven, You are the Lord my Peace. You are the one who calms the troubled waters in me. Instead of worrying, I will cry out to You, Yahweh Shalom. I don’t need to get up every morning and think that I need to make it all work, because You are the One who makes it all work, You are my Peace. You bring calm when there is disturbance in my soul. You bring rest when I cannot sleep. Jesus, I cling to you. In the Name of Jesus, My Comforter, I pray, Amen.