I think part of the reason that I struggled to care about being created for God’s glory was because God didn’t seem near. I hadn’t been hearing his voice. I felt spiritually dry.
I was reading through the Psalms, a bit aimlessly, when I read, “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart,” (Psalm 10:17 ESV).
He promises to strengthen our hearts.
Throughout scripture, God also promises to answer us and to be with us. He promises to unstop deaf ears and to unveil blinded eyes. And he promises to give us water.
Behold, I am doing a new thing… I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert… for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.
-Isaiah 43:18-21
We are created to bring him praise.
Praise was what God wanted from the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt thousands of years ago. God commanded Pharoah, “Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness,” (Exodus 7:16). In the wilderness! God wanted them to worship Him in the desert, in the dryness. He wanted their worship before they ever reached the promised land.
The night before Pharaoh finally let the people go, God instructed the Israelites to take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood of the lamb and brush the top and sides of their door frames. And the destroyer was promised to pass over their home and spare the life of the first born. And it happened as God had said. (Exodus 12)
Many years later when the Lamb of God hung dying on the cross, he said “I thirst” (John 19:28). But he didn’t receive any water. Instead, wine vinegar was soaked with a sponge and lifted up to him with that same hyssop plant. “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30).
His thirst for our relief. His blood for our life.
I found myself convicted, thinking, I don’t want to be the wayward Christian who only follows Jesus and only cares about his glory when things are going my way and prayers are being answered how I asked. I am a servant of the Lord, and I will praise him in the desert, because my God will provide water.
He already has provided Living Water, and he has spared my life.
Sometimes I wonder if one of the ways we can best bring glory to our Creator Elohim is by worshipping him in the desert. By thanking him for what he has done and praising him for who he is. By expecting him to fulfill his promises and trusting that he will satisfy our thirst. For in Christ, we are guaranteed to not dry up.
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys… that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.
-Isaiah 41:17-20
Read: What are some things that God says about water?
Psalm 1:3
Isaiah 55:1, Isaiah 58:11
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Matthew 13:6-8
John 4:13-14, John 7:37-39
Revelation 21:6
How does this impact the way you walk through the desert seasons of life? The way you view God? The way you view yourself?
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Soaking in the Son 
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