"Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning on her lover?" "I aroused you under the apple tree, where your mother gave you birth, where in great pain she delivered you." Song of Songs 8:5 NLT
The desert is a barren, desolate, lonely place. Have you ever been there? I'm not talking about a physical desert, the kind of desert I am speaking of is a spiritual desert. If you haven't been there, you will go there sometime. Desert experiences are inevitable for every believer. At one point or another you will have your very own "desert experiences". And, the way we react to our "desert experiences" will determine the depth of our walk with the Lord.
What do I mean by desert experiences? Have you ever gone through a time in your life when you felt like your prayers were hitting the ceiling and coming back down? Have you ever had those times when you went into praise and worship and felt absolutely nothing? You know that you aren't in sin (so, that's not the problem), but you just can't seem to get through to Him. Our desert experiences can be some of the most influential times in our lives.
Imagine yourself in the middle of a desert. As you look out over the horizon a sense of helplessness overwhelms you. You finally come to the realization of how powerless you are. You're tired, you're thirsty, but you can't get water on your own. You really can't do anything on your own. In your desperation you cry out, "Someone help! Where are someone? I need a drink! I am thirsty!"
In the same way there are times when we will feel overwhelmed. We will feel dry, thirsty and helpless. These are times that we need to cry out to God! He will hear our cries. He will not deny us. The absolutely amazing, incredible thing is that when we cry out to our God He hears our cries and He does not deny the thirsty a drink.
There is purpose in the desert. When we come to the point where we realize we cannot do anything on our own, we draw from Him. In our desert experiences God is teaching us to draw everything that we need from Him. The desert experiences we have in our lives teach us that we can't do it on our own. We need Him! It is when we come to this point in our life that we turn to Him and we become so caught up with Him that our "image" actually changes from a helpless, thirsty person, to the very image of God.
In the scripture from Song of Songs it says that she is leaning on the arm of her lover. What a beautiful illustration! She had learned that place of totally dependency (implied in the "leaning"). She has learned to love and trust.
"Who is this?" was the remark from her friends. The transformation that had taken place in her life was so significant that even her friends didn't recognize her anymore. That's what God wants to do in us! He lures us out to the desert, speaks tenderly to us, and we are forever changed. She had been transformed into His image - we need the same thing today. We need to become totally consumed and captivated with Jesus. Only then will we become transformed into His image.
You have a choice today. You can either cry out to God in the desert, or you can allow your heart to be hardened. The Israelites wandered in the desert because of their hardness of hearts. They didn't hear the voice of the Lord. They wanted Moses to hear the voice of the Lord for them. Today you have a choice. You can choose to seek after Him, or you can choose to harden your heart.
Choose to cry out to God. Learn to lean on the arm of your Lover (Jesus).
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