EYES TO SEE

My first glimpse of the Promised Land from the hills of Moab was disappointing. “Did this look a lot different when the Israelites got here?” I asked our guide as we looked towards Jericho. I was expecting a dramatic change from the east side of the Jordan. “No,” she answered. “It has looked the same for thousands of years.”

I rephrased the question. “What did the Israelites see when they got here?” “The biggest oasis on the face of the whole earth,” she replied.

Then I understood. I had ridden across the barren desert in the luxury of an air conditioned bus stocked with cold bottled water. To me, an oasis was nothing spectacular. But the Israelites had spent years wandering in a hot, dry desert. To them, the sprawling patch of pale green in the hazy
distance meant refreshing water. They were parched; I was refreshed. They were exhausted; I was rested. They had spent forty years getting there; I had spent four hours.

Like an oasis, God’s goodness is found in dry and difficult places. How often, I wonder, do we fail to see His goodness because we’ve got comfortable in our routines. Sometimes God’s gifts are seen more clearly when we are tired and thirsty. May we always thirst for Him (PSALM 143:6).

To pray about . . .

Dear God, may our need for You be like that of the Israelites in the desert looking forward to cold, refreshing water. Please don’t allow comfort to keep us from seeing You in every detail of our lives

JESUS IS THE ONLY FOUNTAIN WHO CAN
SATISFY OUR THIRSTS.

YouTh Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries