THRIVING IN THE DESERT

There is an awful lot of talk about how tough the economy is these days.  We hear endless reports of the DOW and the NASDAK and how they are measurements of our national health.  We hear politicians doing their best to use the present circumstances to persuade people that the other guy is to blame for where we are, “It’s not our fault”.  With all that’s said, most people have just one question, how do we make it through?  I hope you are starting to talk and listen to God as we heard last Sunday.  Listen today to see if you can hear his voice.

The answer is found in the one place we can establish our reliance and trust.  The answer is not in what stocks to buy or what bank to take your money out of.  The answer is found in the one place that has always been right under our noses, the Bible.

God’s people have lived under some very difficult circumstances because they’ve refused to live according to God’s instructions.  They’ve chosen to serve other gods, support unrighteous causes and participate in activity that destroys their relationship to a loving God.  They minimized their time spent with God and maximized their time spent on self-gratifying experiences.  They worshiped other gods and used the resources that God had given them for unrighteous living.  They refused God’s directives and instead did it their way.  This brought them into some pretty dry lands that I will refer to this morning as deserts.    All the while mankind did this, God has endeavored to provide a way of escape to them, so they could thrive in the desert.

Let’s look at some of God’s awesome work in creation.  In the deserts across the globe there are creatures and plants that are able to thrive in the most difficult of conditions.  During the driest times with little to no water God has equipped them to draw sustenance out of the minimal available resources.  Some have roots that go so deep as to access the subterranean waters, some extract moister for life from the morning dew.

Cactus, are among the most drought-resistant plants on the planet due to their absence of leaves, shallow root systems, ability to store water in their stems, spines for shade and waxy skin to seal in moisture. Their spines protect the plant from animals, shade it from the sun and also collect moisture. Extensive shallow root systems are usually radial, allowing for the quick acquisition of large quantities of water when it rains. Because they store water in the core of both stems and roots, cacti are well suited to dry climates and can survive years of drought on the water collected from a single rainfall.

Desert creatures derive water directly from plants, particularly succulent ones, such as cactus. Many species of insects thrive in the deserts this way. Some insects tap plant fluids such as nectar or sap from stems, while others extract water from the plant parts they eat, such as leaves and fruit. The abundance of insect life permits insectivorous birds, bats and lizards to thrive in the desert.

You see, God designed these creations to thrive in the midst of a harsh reality.  He did this with His human creation called Israel also.  The desert became home to the children of Israel.  Sadly they had learned how to tolerate the oppression in their lives as slaves and become dependent on the kings or pharaohs of their time.  They yielded to the dictatorial demands of their oppressor and failed to get their cues from God.   They didn’t thrive, they existed till they expired.

God sent Moses to uproot them from their land and He spent the next 40 years teaching them to shift their allegiance and dependence onto God.  They resisted, complained and sought for alternative solutions other than serving God.  During their life in the desert God was trying desperately to get them to depend on Him.  They were thirsty and so God called forth water from a rock.  They were hungry and so God caused “Manna” or bread from Heaven to form on the ground so that they would have food for the day.  This is what we pray when we say give us our daily bread.  They wanted meat and God sent quail in mass quantities.

Exodus 16:11-14   …The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”  That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.  When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost (Manna) on the ground appeared on the desert floor.     

It’s important for you to understand that God has been providing some form of manna to you for years.  Are you still missing the opportunity to collect it?  He’s sent quail but we often refuse to be satisfied with what God wants for us and we demand what the world around us offers instead.  He’s given us words of guidance for our lives and yet we complain because we don’t like His plan.  Listen to what God says about this desert life we live in.

Jeremiah 17:5-8   …This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord.  He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.  “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

God is a wonderful provider but we often overlook His provision and instead grope for the world’s stuff.  When our lives are full of plenty what do we do with it?  Let me read a portion of God’s word in Deuteronomy 8.

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers.  Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.  He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.  Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and revering him.  For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.  Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.  Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.  He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.  You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”  But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.  Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.  (Deuteronomy 8:1-20)

Are you thriving in your desert?  God makes His kids into desert thrivers.  Are you seeking God for what changes need to happen in your life habits so you can survive a drought of life?  God equips His kids to extract moisture from creative resources.  Are you complaining in order to get what you want or are you praying and asking God for what’s needful in this season?  In fact, did you know that the bible calls Jesus our Manna, our very bread of life? (John 6:48-51)

The world we live in is always seen by God as a desert.  It’s dry and parched of the cool waters of God and the bread of life.  God offers peace where no peace exists, hope where no hope is available.  God offers wisdom to know how to live within our means in times of plenty so that when famine comes we have a storehouse of supply.  God tells us to trust Him with our material wealth so that when we are faced with financial desert conditions we can tap into His provision of more than enough.

I challenge you to learn from God how to thrive in these desert conditions.  Ask other Christ followers how they can be so unaltered by this world we live in.   Open the pages of the Bible and drink from the living waters of Christ.

If you are in serious desert condition financially we have a wonderful relationship with Hastings Family Service who has been trained how to help desert travelers make it.  Don’t let pride keep you from asking for insight.

National Day of Prayer: Thursday, May 7 at Hastings City Hall noon till 1pm.

Notes from Pastor Pasch’s May 3, 2009 message:  to get a free CD of the complete message, contact Christ’s Family Church @ 651-437-2340.