From mountains of vibrant green to hills of dry sand- this was the transition from Ecuador to Peru both literally and figuratively. Little did I know that my time and state of mind in Peru would actually reflect the very scene that I’d be living in.
Emotionally, mentally and spiritually I struggled with the transition of feeling full of life and wholeness to then feeling dry and drained. My team collectively felt the same as well. “Why is this happening? What needs to change? I just want to finish this race well” were the questions and statement I frequently talked with myself about. Despite my confusion, I knew God was working and doing something through it regardless. I knew He was going to make a way.
Just about every day on the way to ministry, I was reminded of all of this as I literally watched mountains of sand and rock pass me by as we drove to our destination. It struck me that it really can be harder to live in a desert. Just as I understood that it’s harder to live, grow or see things in the dusty, dryness of a desert, I was reminded that it can be the same when one feels like a desert within. Moments of loneliness, cloudy thoughts, physical aches and pains, trying to process challenging team dynamics or worrying about being able to finish well began to form my own desert within. Despite this, I still knew that God was going to make a way through it all.
In the last month and a half or so, God began to reveal more purpose during this time in Peru. He reminded me of the verse that He pressed upon my heart at the beginning of this year to hold onto- Isaiah 43:18-19.
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. Behold I am doing a new thing; do you not perceive it? I am making ways in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”
What is so cool about the context of this verse is that during this time, God was freeing the Israelites, despite their unfaithfulness, from the hands of Babylon. Promises of redemption, protection, provision and guidance were made by God to His people. He made a way for them.
So what am I trying to get at here? What do I mean when I believed that God was going to make a way? Well, just as God was faithful to his unfaithful people and promised to lead them through their trying time, I was believing that the same God that intervened on Israel’s behalf, would be the same God to prove Himself faithful and help my team and I finish this race well and strong.
With me choosing to proclaim and believe this over my life and the lives of my teammates, I began to see what God was doing- He was “making ways through the desert and streams in the wasteland.” During this time of serving and sharing the name of Jesus with others, it was to be a time to truly embrace God being my ONE thing in the dry, and weary land. He’s the only one we need and may even be the only one we have left standing in the desert with us. In the same way, it would be a time of intentionally trusting that He is doing SO much more then I can even see- in the lives around me and even in my own life too. The “ways” were Him alone and trusting Him wholeheartedly.
From both scripture and this fresh revelation, new motivation sprung forth in me- to choose to not dwell on the past, to be present in the season and to believe that He was even preparing me in dynamic ways for the future.
By the end of our time in Peru, I found myself more in awe of God. Could this be the sole purpose for the “desert season”? Honestly, that could be the case… to be in fresh awe of the “Way Maker,” to be so dependent and refocused on just Him and to be reminded of His faithfulness once again… yes, what a season worth learning and living through. Because of God, my team and I made it to the end of our time in Peru and finished well. He made a way.
With some of my vulnerability and lots of “desert talk,” I pray that we can all see the beauty of Isaiah 43 play out in our lives. Similarly, I hope that we never forget the faithfulness of the one who can and will make a way through whatever may come our way.
