Desert Island

Have you ever heard the one question, “What one thing would you bring with you if you were stranded on a desert island.” Usually you can only pick one thing and you will always get someone to give the answer of a Bible. I asked the people I was traveling to ministry with today and they said therma-rest, internet, lipstick, and Becky Miller said she would bring a friend, although we told her that isn’t allowed. Sometimes people get creative and say a survival guide or boat building manual. I think we would all try to bring something we think could keep us entertained the longest or that would help us escape the Island.

Well, what if you brought nothing at all. Do you think you could stay sane?  That is the answer that you will never hear anyone say in response to that question. “I don’t need anything.” You have to bring something. The point I am making is that would just being able to talk to God be enough for you, or would you have to have entertainment. Would you be fine with having nothing?

Sometimes, we need to be fine with the desert. Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and he did it without even having food! Not only that but the devil was on his case big time with temptations I would have fallen into. Jesus fasted and prayed and after that time period he was ready to start his ministry.

So what happens in the desert that is so good? We come to the end of ourselves and are forced to deal with the demons that keep us under normal circumstances trying to silence them. We have to face our insecurities and deal with them. How scary is that? Now I wouldn’t say that Jesus had demons to deal with, but we all have problems that we run from and try to suppress by having our constant drug of entertainment and busyness. The desert exposes those things and it is the best thing in the world for us.

 6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness ^[a] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and mallicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. 13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”