Thirst after God By Susan Barnes
"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." Psalm 42:2
The Old Testament leaders like: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Deborah, David don't appear to have a lot in common. Some were wealthy, some had status, some had wisdom and some had nothing going for them in the eyes of the world. The thing we can say though is, these leaders spent an unusual amount of time in deserts or prisons or in the wilderness. If not a physical desert or prison, then a spiritual one. Jesus spent forty days in a desert and Paul many years in prison.
'Desert-like experiences' teach us to thirst after God. We would much rather live on the mountain top and be like Peter who wanted to build shelters and stay there (Mark 9:5). However God leads us down the mountain and sometimes into 'desert experiences'.
On the mountain top we are very conscious of the presence of God but in the desert we must walk by faith because we don't feel his presence. In the desert we learn what we can live without and therefore what's really important. In the desert we learn to give up our own expectations, our agendas and our timetables. We learn to accept that our Father knows best.
God's promise is that, "The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom" (Isaiah 35:1). If we are prepared to stay in the desert with him and learn to thirst after God we will find our relationship with God will blossom.
Susan, an Australian pastor's wife, loves to enrich people's understanding of God. She regularly writes devotional thoughts on Bible passages. Contact | 
