We've all been there... smack dab in the middle of the desert. Our lives desolate. Our hopes crushed. Our spirits alone. But then we see it. It's always there. That river in the desert. That refreshing water that tempers our unrelenting thirst.
Britain, like most of the world is in the throes of a terrible recession. The poor are getting poorer and public programs are being cut. What cool refreshment for them to take joy in the birth of Kate and William's new baby. Babies always bring hope.
The Roman Catholic Church has not had a good decade. They have been rocked by scandal and criticized for many of their old-fashioned practices and ideas. But then the refreshing river that brought Pope Francis arrived. What a thirst-quencher he is!
2008 was probably the most difficult year of my life. Among other "in the desert" events, I lost both of my parents in less than a month. But then the river of life brought my first granddaughter into the world. What joy she brought to my sadness! She has been the light of my life ever since.
Every desert hides a secret river just waiting to gush forth. Sometimes we have to look for it. Sometimes it even lies disguised as part of the desert. Look for it. It's there waiting to be discovered. As Laura Story sings, "What if the trials in this life are Your mercies in disguise?"
God of Flowing Rivers,
Bring forth the water when we are thirsting in the desert portions of our lives. Help us to see it whensadness or despair threaten to overecome us with thirst. Amen.
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