Open Rivers in Desolate Places
“The poor and the needy seek water,
but there is none. Their tongues fail
for thirst. I, the LORD, will hear them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of
valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs
of water. I will plant in the wilderness
the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the
desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, that they may
see and know and consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD
has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.” Isa. 41:17-20
This passage describes the Lord as:
- Hearing the poor, needy, and thirsty;
- Opening rivers in desolate heights and fountains in
valleys;
- Making the wilderness a pool of water and dry land
springs of water; and,
- Plant trees in the wilderness.
His reason for doing this is so that people will know and
understand it is the work of God. These
are miraculous acts and He has promised us miracles as well. We may be thirsty – our God will hear
us! We may be in the wilderness – God
will plant beautiful trees! We may be in
a desolate place – God says He will open up rivers for us! When we turn to the Lord, He will be
faithful! He will do what no man or
woman can do – He will do the miraculous in our lives. He is our God who can create something out of
nothing. It is powerful to pray,
“Father, create something out of this situation, this tragedy, this
dilemma. I see nothing that can come
from it. It is up to You, God, to create
something from this!”
As God works in our lives, we must be good caretakers of
that which he has given us. We can
better care for what has been given if we can recognize the stage we are in –
and we recognize three stages: planting, watering, and pruning.
1. The Planting Stage – God
will plant things in our lives. Of
course, so will the world. Mt. 15:13
states, “Every plant which My heavenly
Father has not planted will be uprooted.”
It is vital to know that it is God who has planted a word, a change, a
promise in our lives.
2. The Watering Stage – God will create wondrous ways of
watering. Water is required for things
to grow. For believers, water is
symbolic of the Hoy Spirit. Eph. 5:25 reads, “…that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by
the word.”
3. The Pruning Stage –
Eventually, God will prune those things that are blossoming in our lives. John 15:2 states, “Every branch that is in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and
every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” It is important that we know God is doing
the pruning and His reason is so that we may bear more fruit. It is often not easy to be pruned! We may think we are headed in the right
direction and good things are happening and then out come those God-sized
pruning shears! We are pruned so that
the next harvest of fruit in our lives will be even more abundant. When we prune flowering plants, we can see
the flowers that come after pruning are more in number, more vibrant in color,
and often times last longer.
We benefit from trusting God’s timing for planting,
watering, and pruning that which He has planted in our lives!
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