Charismatics are results oriented. That’s no bad thing. God is on a mission and he wants his mission to be successful. He cares that the death of Jesus pays off. When things are going well and revival/renewal is the greater flow of what has already been a steady stream of productivity, it is hard for God to get our attention. Whether it is healing, words or even the intensely felt presence of God, there are too many things going on and our spirituality rapidly acquires technologies for being effective—like prayer ministry methods of delivery for worship, deliverance etc. (Of course, techniques are inevitable. They are only effective ways of carrying out a particular task.) In the desert where nothing is growing, nothing is happening, our hope is in God as creator, redeemer and sustainer, not in outpouring, increase or acceleration.
Here’s the core idea. God has an interest in dropping us in the desert—the place where there is no fruit. It isn’t so that we will experience being abandoned and learn survival techniques, but initially to get our attention. If you think about Hagar and Ishmael, Moses and the burning bush, Elijah, even David; important things happened for them in a place which was infertile. Cooper and Woodbridge talk about the story of Hosea in terms of God’s desire to show his steadfast love or faithfulness, though of course the desert is not the only place God shows his love.
There is clearly a thread in the Bible that demonstrates that God—as well as showing his unimaginable love—has an interest doing transformation in the desert. The most accessible example is probably the story of the valley of dry bones. The issue for Ezekiel was that there was nothing he could turn to, not a single sign of life. Elijah’s experience of gradually seeing resource removed is probably even more impressive. To fill out the picture we need to look at Isaiah’s perspective on the desert before spending a couple Wednesday to Friday trying to pull together the biblical and the practical. Any thoughts?
John the Baptist ministered in the “desert region” (Mark 1:4), and Jesus really began His ministry in the desert (Mark 1:12ff)!
When the grass is lush and green and things are going well for us, our gaze is likely to be directed more to ourselves and possibly a more hedonistic lifestyle and pride of achievement makes its entry (Deuteronomy 8:17), but God seems to like the desert, because the only one who can achieve anything THERE is Him. That’s the place where we learn most effectively that HE is God, and that His power is brought to perfection in our weakness and devastation (2Corinthians 12:9). Therefore, in a strange sort of way, I don’t see our present economic situation so much as a threat but more as an opportunity – God’s opportunity to start with us again – in the desert!
Comment by Frieder Kreschnak — Thursday, 10 July, 2008 @ 10:26 am