Desert...

I’ve been craving the desert for some time now. So hopefully, my mind hasn’t been full with desert lands just because of this post, but because something is cooking and I’ll find myself holidaying in the nearest future.

A thought dropped in my heart a few weeks ago. I was thinking about how the Middle Eastern countries seem to have this depth of wealth from digging in their desert land and finding oil. They are rich in oil, giving them so much wealth and splendor. Now a desert land isn’t your typical holiday spot, a place where you’d crave to live in… it is dry, hot and have I mentioned dry and hot?

But the beauty of it is, in this dry hot sandy land, is where oil is drilled out from, enriching the nation and being a blessing to the world around it. I mean oil can be found in other countries as well, and not necessarily in only desert land, we have oil in the wetlands of Nigeria. But I’m just going to dwell on how profound this picture of the desert and oil is.

So maybe your life feels like it’s in a jam. Everything seems acrid… the air is dry, your throat is patched and you’re just burned up by the sun of all your worries. Maybe now is the time to dig, not maybe, now is definitely the time to dig. Maybe we have this desert experiences o we can be spurred to dig deeper and bring out oil… something extraordinary, something oily and desirable to the nations of the world, even while its taking care of you.

Dig deep and drill out some oil.

Dig with your praise and thanksgiving. And don’t even kid yourself, digging is work, its tiring, its not always jolly, but it’s a job that needs to be done, without the drilling, there’d be no oil spilling out. So dig, worship when you don’t feel like it, when the sun is at its hottest, you dig harder… you worship more when it feels driest.

Let your praise break grounds.

Let your thanksgiving explore.

Let your worship cause the gem within you to spill out.

That’s when you think harder… that’s when ideas start gushing out.

A lot of people have told stories of how being at their lowest jolted them to their peak and kept them striving…  both in business and ministry.

It’ll pay off if you don’t just drop your tools in despair and give up just like that, just when your at that point where your next strike is hitting gold.

Make no mistake, God loves you and He isn’t a wicked father to let you come up with nothing after all that digging.

I will praise Him, even when the fig tree doesn’t blossom…. That’s like digging in a dry land. Your continuous praise can seem like a drag, a labor, because most times you feel nothing like praise.

 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Job 13:15

So even if you feel God Himself is serving you a sentence, thus the sand dunes in your desert are the highest, its not a reason to give up… God loves you and if you dare to keep digging, then you will come up with something of value. I have observed that dry seasons end with great testimonies.

Also, it just hit me that we’ve got exotic sweet fruits growing from this desert lands… dates etc. Out of something ugly, something sweet emerges.

The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Isaiah 58:11(NLT)

God’s got you.

And you also have reasons to dig even in wetlands, because there’s oil too. Dig in all seasons, basically. But most especially in the dry season, don’t let sand storms steal your joy.

Keep digging!

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. ... Psalm 95:1-6