A Lesson in Retrospect

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

-Isaiah 43:18-19-

Aged and weary, feet half blackened by the sun and the hot sand, we stumble. Desert wasteland dries our veins. In desperation we gasp and pull for another breath; trapped here alone while heaven's silence spreads itself as far as the eye can see. The taste of water has long been forgotten, but the body's longing for it , indescribable  (Is 55).   Strangled by the hot dunes, we lift our heads north. There are mirages here, drizzled ever so beautifully upon this parched canvas. Mirages like refreshing mirrors reflecting what the past once held; maybe a parting of the red sea in our lives (Ex 14), possibly water from the rock at Meribah, that cooled our throats at one time (Ex 17), perhaps a walk with Jesus down Emmaus road that left our heart burning with in us (Luke 24). We must be aware of looking North, though they were wonderful times; they often blind us from the reality of the desert, and leave our mouths full of sand.

There are new springs, new lakes, new palms just over the dry horizon. Child of God, take heart, soon the silence will be broken, the desert flooded and the cotton gone from out mouths. Do not let your eyes wander. Focus just past the mirages - the rivers are babbling and the springs are welling up. The Lord himself  is making a way. He is doing a new thing. (1 Cor 2:9)