The Desert

How many times have we felt like we were walking in a spiritual desert? Places in our lives where we felt our spiritual life was dry and parched. Times where we felt God had abandoned us, or maybe where we had abandoned God. Have we stopped trusting God? Jeremiah describes those who don’t trust God as ones who are living in the “wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.”

In working with the poor here in the US and overseas, I have seen those who are physically thirsty. I have seen the poor villagers who have to walk up to eight hours just to fetch their daily rations of water. For us, it’s a short walk from the couch to the kitchen sink or to the bottled water in the refrigerator. In our physical lives, we are never thirsty.

It sometimes seems we have to walk a long distance before we find God’s presence, again. Believe it or not, our wanderings through the stark wilderness are essential for our spiritual growth. The trials Jesus faced in the desert served to strengthen him for his three-year ministry. The trick for us is to recognize when we are going through a spiritual desert and to use it to grow closer to God, not to use it as an excuse to abandon him.

Lent is a time to realize our spiritual desires, which we repress through distraction, entertainment and the belief that life is going along fine. We have to understand we are spiritually poor while others in many places in the world suffer from a physical poverty that cries out for justice.

Our walk through the Lenten desert is one way to strengthen us for our work to serve the poor. It is difficult and emotionally draining to stare at the barren truth day after day. People die of malnutrition, from preventable diseases and other tragedies that go without notice.

For in reality, God never leaves us to die of spiritual thirst. It’s really only a short walk into the arms of God. A God who will fill our cups to overflowing if we allow him to. He doesn’t deliver tap water or sparkling water; he serves us life-giving water that quenches our parched lips. As Jeremiah writes, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the lord...for he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream.”

Craig Cole is the executive director of Five Talents International, an Anglican microfinance nonprofit. He is also a member of the Diocese of Virginia's Mission Commission and an EGR board member.