En Gedi: Water for My Desert

A fleeting moment of quiet was interrupted by something I found to be much more enjoyable – the exploding sound of pure joy and freedom. The laughter, excitement, and playfulness of children sloshing and splashing through a spring of water had taken me by surprise. In full attire – sweaters, pants, jackets, sweatsuits even, these children soaked themselves from head to toe as they allowed an unlikely find in the middle of the desert give them a semblance of abundant life. And I wanted to be that filled too.

Because of all the entertainment I was receiving in this little watering hole, I missed most of the sermon given at this spot by one of our pastors during my trip to Israel. It wasn’t until later when another traveling buddy shared why it was her favorite site that my heart was now drawn to love it too. En Gedi is an oasis in the middle of the desert. All about it, you will find no signs of teeming life – only barrenness and dust.

Barrenness and dust. That’s what a season of my life looked and felt like from the outside looking in and at times, from the inside looking out. I’d fluctuate between hope and truth and impossibility because of the facts. I felt as that weary traveler in the desert, who like the children of Israel thought, I might die right here. That this would be my grave. Yet despite all signs of decay and destitution, God was right there giving me life instead.

Contrasted with Masada (read my last blog if you missed it), En Gedi wasn’t a fortress that promised feigned protection and provision those dwellers thought it would bring. Rather, it was a place that seemed to offer nothing of value – no shelter, no shade, nor supply. And just when those sojourners believed they could go no further, they, like me, were surprised with refreshment right in the middle of a wasteland. It reminds me of this passage:

“Behold, I will do something new,

Now it will spring forth;

Will you not be aware of it?

I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,

Rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19 NASB1995)

This notable verse has been quoted time and again; it’s a New Years special for sure. But the depth of it is greater than God just bringing the new things in our life we desire. In context, it speaks to the children of Israel who after coming out of centuries of captivity to Babylon would now have to face a journey back home through what seemed to be an endless wasteland. If you keep reading (v. 20-21), God not only says He’ll supply the passageway for them to be led out, and the waters to refresh them, but He would also protect them from the dangers that encamped their path.

I love what David Guzik comments on these particular verses:

“Often, when God makes a promise, we worry about the details or the obstacles for the fulfillment of the promise. God replies to us, ‘Don’t worry about it at all. I will even make a road in the wilderness. I have resources and plans you don’t know about. Leave those problems to Me.’”

Unlike self-deceived lovers, God means what He says. I found these words to ring true during my desert. All looked undone and depleted. But God refreshed me right in the middle of my wilderness. His Word continuously held and steadied me. His Spirit restored and sustained me. And I experienced my own En Gedi. I experienced God.

• Are you in a desert season or place in life?

• What or who do you look to for refreshment?

• Have you trusted God to be that refreshment for you?

If not, pray and ask Him to. Use even the words of this Psalm to say, “As you made a roadway in the wilderness and rivers in the desert for the children of Israel, God will you do that for me too.”