Sips from Streams in the Desert

New challenges erupted into our lives this week as my friends Grace & Faith and I read from the September 8-15 in Streams in the Desert.  Two of us faced or are facing results from medical tests that have the potential to be ominous.  My grandma, my last living grandparent, was also diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 89.  Then throw in the daily challenges (and joys) that come with raising teenagers and preschoolers along with the mix of strained extended family relationships, we find ourselves leaning on God begging Him to lift us above our circumstances and to quench our thirst with His love and peace.

I don’t want to live a shallow life directed by my own impulses, moods, and circumstances. I don’t want a spirit of hastiness, nor a spirit of complaining and criticism.  I want patience, peace, and quiet submission to God’s will and way.  Yet sometimes when I need it most, it disappears as quickly as a the falling star I glimpsed early yesterday morning. 

The best way I know to do this is to begin each day on the mountain with God where we can draw strength and sweetness to prepare for the tasks of the day – planned or unplanned. It is there that we can draw the peacefulness to accompany the nagging worries and pettiness of daily life. It is there that He lifts me up to peek into the quietness of eternity.  It is there that the purpose of God becomes my primary purpose. Then I can move steadily ahead in the face of circumstances, even rise above them to see the future where sorrows, seeming defeat, and failure will be reversed. 

Jesus draws me close in order to mature my wisdom, deepen my peace, increase my courage, and boost my power. All this He does so that through the very experience that is so painful and distressing to me, I will be of greater use to others and give greater glory to Him.  None of it is in vain.

Why sips from streams in the desert? Click here for original post.