There are times when we find ourselves closer to God.  Not only in prayer but when reading scripture.  The words seem to sink deep within in. They take on a more spiritual dimension.  Not merely words but the Holy Spirit seems closer.

There are other seasons where we are in a spiritual desert!  Prayers only reach the ceiling.  Nothing is right. 

In those times there is no cheerfulness that marks our days.  Rather, we feel as if God is far away.  The Father who we felt by our side is distant. We feel lonely. 

 David, a man described as being a man after God’s own heart, felt the loneliness.  Many of his Psalms express his fear of God forsaking him. He was in a desert of loneliness.

When the Hebrews left Egypt, they were forced into crossing the barren desert.  Even though God was leading they complained.  The desert seemed endless.  Would they ever reach the land that God had promised them?

We are all on a spiritual journey.   We are crossing our own individual deserts.  We complain. There is only desert around us.  We are no better than those who had left Egypt and faced the desert of loneliness. 

Every one of us has an “Egypt.” These are things that hold us captive, patterns we can’t seem to break.  Burdens that weigh us down.  

But the good news is that God still leads you and me through that desert and out of our Egypt.

He opens the way to freedom, and to new beginnings. Our desert wanderings are transformed into joy. He is liberating us from our desert wanderings and refining us to be His disciples.

He will not leave us or forsake us. He is the good shepherd who leads us through the desert places in our life.
                                We will wander no more!