Anchored In Peace

With the surprisingly, unseasonably warm temperatures this week, I have been busy cleaning out my flower beds and creating new flower beds. The cooperation of my husband is much appreciated, as we had to dig ALOT of grass to create a new idea I have been brewing all winter long. As we worked together, I shared my plans with him, explaining how I wanted to incorporate a variety of blooms and antiques that would offer me something beautiful to look at during all of the seasons.

As he dug up the grass, I attended to the other beds. Currently, everything appears parched and lifeless. What is visible comprises only stems and branches devoid of vitality. As I looked further though, I can see the promise of life emerging from the soil and the tiny buds of leaves sprouting on the trees and bushes. It holds the promise of beauty and life after such a harsh winter. What seems dead, is in fact, alive and flourishing.

While contemplating this fact, God began to show me how the dry, dead, waste places in our lives will live again too. We may not see the new birth at first, but just like the dry branches, the buds are surfacing. The prayers that have been prayed have taken root and will sprout and bring forth fruit in due season. God has never left us and has been the Master Gardener tending to each dry place in our lives.

What Are The Waste Places?

Isaiah 51:3 NKJV says:

“For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.”

What are the waste places Isaiah is speaking about? This was written in a time when the Israelites were taken away into Babylonian exile, a period marked by profound sorrow and desolation. Israel was reduced to a wilderness, stripped of its former glory and vitality. There was no life or joy found there. The land was dry and barren. The absence of the people’s worship and gratitude further deepened this sense of abandonment, making the area into a wasteland of memories where hope seemed like a distant dream. This imagery speaks not only of physical desolation, but also a spiritual emptiness that is longing for redemption and restoration.

Maybe you can relate to the Israelites. You may be feeling dry and barren longing for God to bring restoration and life back to your land. Like the Israelites, you may feel held captive by something causing you to dwell in the wilderness. What can hold us captive? Fear, unconfessed sin, ungodly thought patterns, addictions, pride, envy, and greed. Another thing that can cause us to dwell in the wilderness is depression and the loss of hope due to a long trial we are going through. God sometimes seems quiet and distant in the waste places, but He is right by our side.

Sometimes our dry, desert experiences seem to last forever. The wayward child we have spent years praying for is still struggling. That health crisis we have bee waiting for God to heal is still a crisis. Our dark depression is still revealing no hope. But, Isaiah 51:5 says: “wait upon Me, And on My arm they will trust.”

Trusting God in The Waste Places

When we are going through the dry wilderness in our lives, it is easy to become depressed and impatient thinking God doesn’t care about us or our situation. But this ideology is furthest from the truth. God cares enormously about us and the things that concern us. We forget that God is not bound by time or our will. Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

God is intimately aware of every detail of our lives and will move at the perfect time. We need to learn to trust and lean on Him. Isaiah 43:19 says “I will even make a road in the wilderness….” God has a road to deliverance for you. The wilderness was never meant to be a permanent dwelling place. Don’t allow hopelessness and fear to take root here. Pull out those weeds as soon as they enter by renewing your mind and meditating on the Word of God. Remember what God has brought you out of in the past to encourage you and give you hope for a good outcome in your future.

Isaiah 51:12-13 says:

I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and the son of man who will be made like grass? And you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth; You have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he has prepared to destroy. And where is the fury of the oppressor?

Remember to keep your eyes focused on God in the wilderness. In times of difficulty and uncertainty, it can be all too easy to let fear and doubt creep into our minds. When we allow these negative thoughts to take root, we often forget the immense power our God has, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. It is important to remind ourselves of His unwavering presence. By maintaining our focus on Him, we can find peace and reassurance that life will begin to sprout out of our wilderness. The seedlings have taken root and are pushing through the surface of the ground right now. Beauty will be found in the ashes of our lives.

Speaking God’s Word in the Waste Places

Isaiah 51:16 says:

“And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, lay the foundations of the earth, And say to Zion, You are my people.”

God says that He has put His words in our mouths. How do we access God’s Word? By reading the Bible and hearing what it is saying to us. Romans 10:17 NKJV says: “So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” As we get into the Word and hear it, our faith, in turn, will begin to grow. But don’t just read the Word, speak it. If you are finding yourself in a dry, desolate, place; begin to speak the Word of God over your situation. This is something God has been teaching me recently. We need to get the Word out of us by speaking to our situation. Hebrews 4:12 says “The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Isaiah 55:11 says: “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.“

God’s word never fails to accomplish His purpose. The spoken word has power once it leaves the speaker. God remains faithful to His word. It restores life to His people and gives hope to the hopeless.

Conclusion

Just like my garden looking dry and barren right now, your life may be looking dry and barren as well. You are praying, but nothing seems to be changing, and the weight of silence is feeling unbearable. God feels like a million miles away, leaving you to wonder if your cries are even heard. Just as a gardener nurtures seeds with love and patience, remember that this season of waiting may be a critical time for your spiritual growth, no matter how desolate everything appears.

In the dry, waste places, life is springing forth. You may not be able to see it right now because it is just taking sprout. But, rest assured, God has not abandoned you and He hears your crises for help. David cried out in Psalm 63:1 KJV “my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land.” Allow yourself to begin to long after God who is your comforter. You are never alone in the wilderness. Get into the Word of God and begin to speak it out of your mouth. Trust God to bring forth life in your barren places today.