Streams in the Desert {Part 1}

The Desert

It was a suffocating emptiness from which I couldn’t escape. The barrenness of my womb; the silence in her nursery; the bleak look in my husband’s eyes. It was everywhere. Though I was rarely left by myself in those first few days and weeks, I felt unmoored and distant from all who were around me. Life had lost it’s brilliance when her life ended.

The guttural cries of the biblical poets echoed my own:

“My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” -Matthew 27:46

“I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light,” -Lamentations 3:1-2

“My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is;” -Lamentations 3:17

“Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck; I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.” -Psalm 69:1-3

I know you have felt this. Maybe you still do. You wouldn’t be here without knowing this empty ache, and my friend, I am so sorry. Take my hand, feeble as it may be, and let’s keep pace together through this desert. 

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The book of Isaiah was written throughout Isaiah’s lifetime, amidst much unrest as Judah had a few faithful, but mostly wicked, kings. Isaiah saw incredible evil and injustices, but also restoration and hope as he lived under four different kingdoms. Throughout this book, which is both historical and prophetic, there are great warnings for Israel’s apostasy and turning away from the Lord, and also incredible promises that God will remove their faithlessness and restore justice and mercy. 

It is in the middle of this that our verse is found. 

“Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;”
-Isaiah 35:6

In order for us to grasp the astonishing beauty of this promise—that the impossible will happen—and how it applies to us, we must go back. This barren wilderness, this soul-parched-desert was a familiar land to the prophet Isaiah. And not only to him, but to all of humanity since Eve and Adam fed their doubt.

Soul-barren Since the Beginning

In the beginning, God created the world out of nothing; simply by His own Word. It was effortless for Him to create beauty and creatures and the heavens, and all was good. For His glory to manifest even more than the rivers and forests and animals, He made man and woman. They reflected pieces of Him; when Adam looked at Eve, he understood God more. And when Eve knew Adam, she knew God more fully.

But then. A seed of doubt sprouted in Eve’s heart as she entertained the ideas of the serpent; the sprout bloomed full as she took a bite of the fruit of knowledge and handed it to her husband who was with her. And the knowledge caved them inward. Rather than reflecting holiness and perfection the way a mirror shines in the sun, their hearts were darkened. They had doubted God’s goodness and His care for them; they craved the control and authority of His supremacy. 

God sought them out, but they hid. God asked for an explanation, and they blamed and justified rather than repent. And to this great offense that deserved death, God showed mercy. He made a promise of future redemption. He provided a covering for their nakedness. And He sent them into the wilderness. 

In that one act of rebellion, spiritual death has passed to us all (Romans 5:12). Pain, strife, selfishness, envy, discord, abuse, disease, death and spiritual emptiness are all that humanity has known, save the two. The reality of a broken world—a soul barren, desert-like existence—is all around us, and within us. It’s the reason why you are here.* Death exists because sin exists, and that should grieve our hearts. 

Grieving the Wilderness

Deserts are not where God has created us to live forever: 

“For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is God!), who formed the earth and made it (He established it; He did not create it empty, He formed it to be inhabited!)” -Isaiah 45:18 

We are designed for eternity, for community, and for communion with God. And sin has interrupted that fullness, leaving us dry. Sin and separation are not of God’s creating, but it is under His control. Physical and spiritual deserts should grieve us. The emptiness is real, and not how it should be. Death has momentarily separated us from our babies, and that is a deep and long desert wilderness to walk. There is no shame in grief. When we see what sin has done to the world, to our hearts, to our families, it is right to mourn and weep. Pain and death show us so clearly that we live in a broken world, and are completely unable to fix it ourselves.  

Company in the Desert

God knew that only He Himself had the ability to change the world, cleansing it from the ravages of sin. And He is at work, moving all of history and humanity according to the counsel of His will. We cannot yet fully understand why He would appoint emptiness and loss in our lives, but we do have good company as we patiently endure. Consider these examples from God’s Word:

When He sent Adam and Eve away from the garden of Eden, He sent them into a wilderness. But He made a promise that one day redemption would come. God was faithful. 

When Hagar ran from her mistress, God met her in the wilderness and provided. She named Him, “The God Who Sees.” God was faithful.

When the Israelites were wandering in a very real, dry, and dusty desert, God sent manna from heaven and made water spring from a rock to provide for their needs. God was faithful.

When Christ Himself went to the wilderness, enduring temptation and hunger and thirst, was it not also for this purpose—that He would be made like us in every way? (Hebrews 2:17) Christ knows emptiness, my friend. He knows physical pain, loss of loved ones, loneliness, and fear. He knows where you are in the journey, how much farther it will take, and when the sand will shift under your feet so that you may walk into an abundance again. 

But for now, He is walking with you. He is faithful. You are not alone.

Reflect:

• How would you describe your “desert wilderness”? What words come to mind?
• What grieves you most at this moment? 
• How are you responding to Christ’s presence in the emptiness? 

*The existence of sin means the existence of death, and that is grievous. But God alone holds our days (Psalm 139). He sets the time of all births and deaths (Ecclesiastes 3). God does not punish us for our sin by taking our children away (Ezekiel 18:20; Lamentations 3). God works all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1). God is good, and does good (Psalm 73). 

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Erin Cushman is the founder of Hope Mommies. She is married to Blair and has four children: Gwendolyn, who has been with Jesus since October 20, 2010, Malacai, who is three, Gemma, born in June 2015, and Baby Cush. She loves photography, gardening, cooking, reading, playing with her children, and especially loves when all those things combine.

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