11/17/09
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General
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Pastor Lou @ 6:02 pm
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
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