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When you find yourself in the desert – there is one question I’m guessing you will ask at some point.  How did I get here?   If you have been in a desert – or you are in the desert now – you have likely asked yourself that question.  In my experience, when we are headed toward the desert – we don’t necessarily know we are headed toward a desert.  I’m not why that is.  We know it when we find ourselves IN the desert – but we don’t always realize that is where we are headed while enroute. 

 

I live in Omaha, Nebraska.  Five years ago I moved here from the Detroit area.   It’s about 700 miles – a pretty long drive.  When I go back to Michigan to visit family members, sometimes I fly and sometimes I drive.  When I was a younger man, I’d drive really long distances.  When we’re young, we think we are invulnerable.  Now that I am old, I usually make the drive in two days.  Shortly after I cross the state line going into Michigan, I see signs that tell me how far it is to Detroit.   254 miles.   227 miles and so on.  I know I am on the way and I know how far it is until I arrive. 

 

But it is not that way when we are headed into deserts.  When we are heading into the desert – there are no road signs saying “desert ahead”.  If those signs were posted on the route – we’d stop and turn around.  Most deserts are dry and lifeless places – and it is the enemy that wants to draw us into the desert.  Some call him Satan or the Devil or the Evil One.  He is the one who wants us in the desert – and he knows most of us won’t go there if we know it is a desert – so he doesn’t post road signs.  I think that is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 24:43.  Jesus is talking about a thief breaking into your home.  And he states the obvious:  “But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.”  Often when we end up in the desert – we don’t always see the warning signs – or we choose to ignore the warnings.  No signs.  No warnings.  Or we are so think headed we don’t see the signs.  So we end up in the desert. 

 

Why would God allow his children to end up in the desert?   God is loving and it doesn’t makes sense that a loving Father would allow his children to end up in the desert.   In my experience, God does not WANT us in the desert.   The Bible makes it clear that God wants us to have a life that is abundant (John 10:10) and a joy that is complete (John 15:11).  Abundant life with complete joy – cool, huh?   But not all of us experience life that is abundant and joy that is complete.   How come? 

 

I think we end up in the desert because of two simple facts that have their roots in the earliest story of the Bible – the story of creation.   The first one is FREE WILL.  We were created with the gift of free will.  We can choose to follow God’s path or we can choose to not follow God’s path.  Some people think that everything that happens is God’s Will.  That’s a crock.  If you and I sit down to have a cup of coffee and you lose your temper and pop me in the chin – there is no way that you are going to convince me that is God’s will.   It may be your will – but it is not God’s will.  The other simple fact is ORIGINAL SIN.  We often use our free will to do the wrong thing.  We rebel.  Whether you believe in the literal historicity of Genesis – or you think it is some sort of parable – the point is the same. In Genesis, Adam was told, “Do not eat the fruit.”   What did he do?   He exercised his free will and ate the fruit.  He rebelled.  He sinned.  So do I and so do you.   Sometimes when we end up in the desert – it is our own doing. 

 

Adam knew he shouldn’t eat the fruit.  There were road signs.  But he did it anyway.   His story is my story.  His story is your story.  You do stuff you should not do.  So do I.  So we end up running into walls and bumping our knees.  Sometimes – when we run into a wall – we turn around and go the other way.  That is called repentance - it just means to turn.  If I am driving from Omaha to Detroit and take a wrong turn - and I am paying attention - I’ll notice there are signs telling me I am going the wrong way.  It will say I-94 west – when I know I need to be driving I-94 east.   It will tell me how far back to Chicago – when I now I have already driven through Chicago and it ought to be behind me.  Sometimes the signs are obvious – like if you go the wrong way up a free way on ramp – there is a big red sign that says WRONG WAY.  If I am watching, I can sometimes see the signs.  If I ignore enough signs or if I am driving too fast or if I am not paying attention – I end up in a desert.  

 

A desert is often times the result of a series of bad choices.  Sometimes it is not our own doing – and I’ll deal with that in the BLOG at some point – but many times (I think most of the time) we end up in the desert when we passed by signs saying something about the desert ahead.  At the end of this blog entry, I guess I just want to own up to the fact that I am in a desert and I am here mostly by my own doing.  I helped get myself here. 

 

If you are in a desert – you need to ask yourself how you got there.  Did you do anything to help you get there?   Did you pass by the warning signs?  Were you driving too fast?   Be honest with yourself.   I can easily blame others – but I can’t do anything about other people.  The only person I really have control of is – you guessed it, me.   It is that Free Will thing.  I can only control me – so the first thing I have to do is to ask myself what I did to help me get here.  

 

Next time I think I’ll talk more about the road signs.   That is especially important if you are not yet in the desert, but you might be heading there.  What are the road signs or the warning signs that you need to pay attention to.   I’ve learned something about road signs.  I look forward to sharing it with you.  

 

Pastor Lou

 

All of us have seen dry ground.  When it hasn’t rained for a while, the ground gets dry – even dusty.  Have you ever seen a desert?  The dry ground goes on forever.   A few years ago I visited Death Valley National Park in southeast California, just west of Las Vegas, Nevada.  It is the hottest, lowest, driest place on earth.  The dryness goes on forever.   In some areas, Death Valley is so dry and so hot - there is no vegetation – no signs of life.  

 

The Bible often talks about the desert.  Sometimes the Bible is describing a literal desert.  Some of the land in the Middle East is hot and dry and lifeless.  Other times, the Bible describes a dry season of life – using the desert as a poetic image.  When a season of life feels dry and lifeless, it can be said that we are in a desert.  

 

In the Old Testament, there were times in the life of ancient Israel that were pretty dry.  The ancient people of God - often referred to as Israel or Judah – went through some difficult stretches that were pretty dry and lifeless.   Three periods of history come to mind for me.  The first was about 1900 B.C. when the people of ancient Israel were enslaved in Egypt.  The Bible says they were there over 400 years.   The next stretch of desert was much shorter, just 40 years – as the people of Israel left Egypt and wandered in the wilderness.   During this time, they were in the desert both literally and figuratively.  They had left Egypt but were not yet allowed to go home to Israel, stuck wandering in the desert for 40 years.  That is a story unto itself. 

 

The other big desert season for Israel was when they were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.   Following a common ancient practice, the King of Babylon brought many of the people he conquered back home to live as slaves.  Ancient Babylon is modern-day Iraq and the people of Israel (also called the Jews) were in Exile in Babylon for 70 years.   Much of Iraq is dry desert.  For a people far from home, separated from loved ones – this was a literal and figurative desert. 

 

The lessons of ancient Israel in the desert are important ones.   Because they are not the only people in the desert.  Sometimes you and I are people in the desert.  For me and for many of you, we do not live in a literal desert – but it sometimes feels as thought we are living in a figurative desert.  Ever been there?  The reason we want to know more about ancient Israel in the desert – is that they did some things and learned some things that may help us when we are in the desert.  

 

A desert may be the death of a loved one.  It may be a dreaded medical diagnosis – like cancer or Alzheimer’s.  It may be when a child gets in trouble with the law or when you lose your job.  We end up in some deserts by our own doing.  At other times, we do not know the reason we are in the desert.   That is part of the problem with deserts. 

 

Right now I am in a desert.  In March of 2009, my wife and I separated.  It feels like I am in the desert. It is dry and sometimes feels lifeless.  It has been a difficult journey – one which is not over – but I have learned many things on this journey.  I feel like some of what I have learned, I want to share with others – not to expose myself or hold myself up as a model – but a place to talk and share what I’ve been learning.  I’ve learned some things that I wish I knew earlier.  I’m not sure why I didn’t learn some of this earlier in my life – it may be that you can’t know some things until you are in the desert yourself.  It may be that I am just thick headed. 

 

Maybe some of what I’ve learned will help you.   This blog is an arena where I will share some of the learnings from my journey.  For those of you who are new to blogs – join the crowd.  I’m new to this as well.  It’s my first.  I’ll write and share some of what I am learning.  You can comment and share some of your own learnings.  Sometimes I’ll ask questions – either to invite your answers or to help us think together.  I don’t have it all figured out.  So that is entry number one.  Intro to Deserts. 

 

Pastor Lou

What is a BLOG?  It is a term used to refer to a WEB LOG – something written on the World Wide Web – or the Internet.   This is a BLOG publish by Pastor Lou Forney from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska.  It is shared here in hopes that you will join him on a journey of faith – or find it helpful on your journey of faith.  Feel free to post comments and ask questions, and I’ll try to keep track of things pretty closely. 

 

Pastor Lou