Trusting God when everything is going wrong

Sometimes in life, we find ourselves living on the backside of the desert. Frustrated, angry and feeling confused about prayer, faith and trusting God. It may be influenced by a prolonged period of spiritual dryness, long term illness, or depression. Many people find career downsizing and unemployment to feel like they have been thrust into a dry desert pilgrimage, with no hope in sight to regain financial stability. 

We may not even know why the desert is there in our lives, but the series of set-backs begin to create a domino syndrome as problem after problem tumbles through your life. We may find ourselves blaming everyone and everything, even God. However, desert pilgrimages may be permitted by God as a means to deepen our spiritual lives, not punish us for past sins.

David experienced seasons of wandering out in a desert wilderness with nothing going right, and no end in sight. On one occasion he was being pursued by his son Absalom.While on his way back to Jerusalem, he had to pass through the dry, desolate Valley of Baca. A bitter cruel land with little resources to sustain him, and with his strength ever weakening. It was here that he wrote Psalm 84. It was written to be played on the Lyre as a song of worship in this Quiet Place.

David discovered  4 principles in the desert that he reflects  upon in this psalm:

The Desert Creates a Thirst for God

When resources  are gone and there is no where else to turn, we finally turn to God. David was no where near Jerusalem, yet in his heart and mind it was as if he were. He reflected,

"How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." Psalm 84: 1-2

He was thirsty...yearning to be in the presence of God.  The desert experience, should so arouse our soul, that we become parched and yearn to bask in God's presence.

  

"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"  Psalm 42:2

The Desert Restores a Desire to Praise God

When we are in the desert, it is so tempting to blame God. Strained finances, ruined reputations, loss of employment, hopes and dreams, can be devastating. Deep within our hearts we can muse that God could do something about it, but He hasn't.The desert is a lonely place, but the heart can begin to praise God while we cry out in a hushed whisper,

"O Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Selah:"

Psalm 84:4

"That my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever." Psalm 30:12

The Desert Reminds us to Depend upon God

In the desert the first thing we do is try to muscle,  bargain, or bribe our way out of tough circumstances. God desires to be our strength and our primary resource in the desert. He wants our heart to depend upon Him, to rely on Him, and trust that He will provide all the strength we need. 

When the desert becomes a pilgrimage to deepen our experience of God. rather than a means to get through a tough time, we will begin to change from the inside out. 

"Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion." Psalm 84:5-7

The Desert Awakens the Heart to Worship God

"Hear my prayer, O Lord God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob.  Selah Look upon our shield ,O God; look with favor on your anointed one. Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.  For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. (Beloved) O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you." Psalm 84: 8-13

When you find yourself in the Desert

Acknowledge  your need to have God identify any areas that may be minimizing your thirst for spiritual renewal, and personal spiritual revival.

"For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water." Jeremiah 2:13 Amplified Bible (AMP) 

Only Jesus Christ can fill the spirit of a person who believes in Him, and opens their life to His Lordship.

"Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water." John 7:37-38 

Begin praising God for your desert and begin to  rediscover a renewed dependency upon Him.

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. "1 Thessalonians 5:18
 
Recognize that depending upon God for all things brings glory to Him, and deepens your faith.

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

 
Your desert pilgrimage just may be the best thing that ever happened to you.

   

Take a few moments and reflect upon the encouraging and inspiring words to this song by Matt Redman called "Ever Faithful."

 

Spiritual Dryness in The Quiet Place

There are times in each of our lives when our heart and soul can feel much like a dry barren desert. Our time of spiritual devotions can feel empty of fresh joyous vitality. 

We may have exhausted easily accessible inner resources due to any number of life related influences, and are becoming burned out. Spiritual and emotional burnout is not as uncommon as we would think. It is a condition that most of us would rather not acknowledge that we experience from time to time. For some reason it feels like we failed at something.  

It often happens gradually in our lives, and like a slow fading shadow at sunset, before we realize it, our zeal, inner passion, and sense of spiritual power is but a whisper of what it had been. 

When we reach deep within to seek God, or to find resources to cope with a trying set of stressful circumstances, our hands find only desert sand. 

Spiritual Dryness in the Desert

There was a time when David's life was full of hurt, confusion and doubt. His understanding of God's Purpose for his life, and how it played out in his daily experience, were hard to bring together. 

We can all face that puzzling sense of incongruity when what we understand to be God's Will for us, and what we are experiencing in our present circumstances, seem to be polar opposites.  

For David, it made no sense that God could promise one thing, that he would be the King of Israel,  and yet here he was hiding from King Saul, and fleeing for his life in the dry barren Desert of Judah. Weary and worn out, he prayed:

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1; 6

We can come to The Quiet Place to commune with God to satisfy our thirst and at times discover that our experience there has seemed unsatisfying, and we leave discovering that our throat is still parched and dry. 

We can be inundated with Bible resources, solid teaching, and worshipful music, but find that we are merely treading water of late in terms of our experience and enjoyment of God. We can be up, we can feel down, we can feel joy and then we can drift into a kind of apathy.

The experience of revival, and times of spiritual renewal, are wonderful, joyous, and sometimes overflow with euphoric emotion. However, God also wants to know if we can walk by faith, and not by mere feelings.... Even in the backside of a personal desert.

The Lure of a Mirage in the Desert

If we are not careful, we can equate a kind of "feeling" to be the compass of our spirituality. To follow a compass that has no True North, is like following a GPS that is locked into coordinates that are constantly moving, shifting location, and leading to one dead-end after another. It is in the pursuit of the lure of a mirage, that leads to disappointment and despair(See Jeremiah 2:13).

David himself cried out to God while in the desert,

  

“Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold.... I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.”   Psalm 69:1-4

David was reminded every day, that any living thing that has no regular water source, can literally wither and die in the desert. It was also a stark reality for him. He was alone, afraid, and had nothing but God Himself to sustain him. He used a metaphor describing a deer experiencing a literal thirst for water, with his spiritual thirst for God. 
 

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long. “Where is your God?”  Psalm 42:1-3 

When was the last time that I thirsted for God with such desperation  and intensity?

 The Reasons for Spiritual Dryness

The experience of spiritual dryness happen to all of us at times, and there are several factors that may contribute:

• It may be the result of missing out on our times of worship in The Quiet Place. 

• .        Living too long on the milk of God’s Word and not getting into the meat and depth of Bible study, so as to discern how to deal with the tougher trials that may be happening.

• .        It may be because of an illness, and the medications that sometimes blunt the physical and emotional edge in our lives. 

• .        Long seasons of depression and medications to treat it can mimic a sense of spiritual apathy.

• .        It can be the result of resisting God’s Will to be Lord in our lives, and then avoiding time with Him.

•       Engaging in sinfulness, and refusing to repent and change, dims the passion of our heart for God.

• .        Feeling angry or hurt by God, believing that He should grant something, and withdrawing from Him as a result.

• .        Prolonged periods of trial, suffering and intense ministry can result in spiritual burnout.

• .        Being tested by God to live by the truth of His Word, and exercise faith, even when our feelings do not experience joy and peace when we are walking in fellowship with God.

•       Going through a time of pruning in our life whereby God shapes our heart so that our abiding in Him can be fruitful and unhindered.  

Spiritual Balance in the Desert

        
God's Word assures us that if we Draw near to Him, He will Draw near to us (See Hebrews 7:19-20; 24-26; James 4:8). Paul reminds us that the natural man does not discern Truth in the way that the spiritual man does. His use of the word, pneumatikos in I Cor. 2:15, for the word "...he that is spiritual.." is translated as: "..one who is governed by, or under the rule of  the Spirit of God." Vines NT Greek.

     It takes spiritual insight to discover that we can go through the desert, and feel that God is distant, not know why, but still hold on to God's Word, and the assurance of His promise. His Word reminds us that He will  never leave us, and that He will always keep us ever near His heart, even if we don't always feel that He is there (See Hebrews 13:5; Matt. 28:20 "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.").

     "The unfolding of your words gives light;  it gives understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.”  Psalm 119:130-131

 In The Quiet Place there is an Honesty with God

     "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.”  Psalm 139:1-3

      In The Quiet Place there is an Openness with God

     "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:22-24

     In The Quiet Place there is Healing from God

     "Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:12-14

     Within The Quiet Place God desires to commune with us, encourage us and strengthen us. Before long, a spark will alight in your heart, and then it will become a flame within. The reality of your living faith will create a miracle as God’s all encompassing love, pours out to you, comes alive in you, and then it will flow through you, to a dry and barren world. 

  

     Only God can quench the thirst of the human soul. The world is full of chaos, turmoil, political unrest and economic instability. Many people who sought for satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment in the world, have discovered that they are desperately empty, and have lost their way in the wilderness of life without God.. 

     The seasoned desert traveler can find these lost souls and lead them out of the desert to the true source of life…. Jesus Christ


"Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.They 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.” Jeremiah 17:7-9