The desert has a beauty all its own.
Not everyone believes that at first; for instance, my sister-in-law, who is a mountain girl at heart. She fully believed that the 115 miles from Gila Bend, Arizona to Yuma was the longest stretch of highway in the world the first time she traveled it. Those whose idea that nature's beauty involves trees and lots of green would quickly agree with her. But, the desert has a beauty all its own.
In fact, some of you who are desert newbies are about to get a surprise. Our violent rains last week are waking the desert up. Seeds that have long lain dormant under the sandy topsoil have received a drink of water. Even as you read this, some of them are splitting open and little green shoots are leaping toward the surface where they can gain energy from the sun. Literally millions of them will rise up and turn the tan desert floor into a lush green. They will stay that way until the lack of water brings them to the end of their short life, but they will leave behind seeds that are their children of the future.
The desert has a beauty all its own.
I know people who adore the desert. Somehow they have learned to "see" something that others don't. The see the hardy life of plants and animals whose design is to live in such places. They find themselves in awe of each unique species. They spend huge chunks of time simply experiencing the desert.
It's similar that some people adore God while others struggle with that idea. The hurts of their past and the struggles of their present make them wonder if there is any beauty to find in Him. "If He is really a good God," they think, "then surely I wouldn't be living through such a dry time." Perhaps they have forgotten that He is the God who sends the rain...spiritual rain to awaken what was long ago planted in them.
The question for us is, "How do we adore God, even in the dry times?" That's the subject this weekend at Stone Ridge Church. Can't be there? Catch the podcast here.
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