Seeing God in the Desert

“As the truck pulled away, I followed the other visitors toward a low, dark building.
But as I glanced up into the night sky, I stopped abruptly.  The spectacular umbrella of diamond-studded stars overhead was astounding.  . . . Unbroken by trees, or roofs, or power lines or streetlights competing with the heavens, a brilliant spectrum of galaxies, shooting stars, and the moon commanded my full attention.  This was more than declaring.  This was a full-out loudspeaker blast; an incredible splendor unlike anything I had ever seen before.  God had outdone Himself this time.    “OK, God.  I hear you.  I see you.  You are here in a crazy, magnificently big way .  Thank You!“     “Yella, yella!” (“Come on!  Hurry up!”)
 ~ Excerpt from Not Forgotten

Having grown up as a PK  . . . Pastor’s Kid . . . especially in the context of the US, I had  formulated an image of the context of the Bible being set in the tiny nation of Israel  . . . mixed in with my American “church culture.”   I had never imagined a context for God being in a desert . . . much less in an Arab/Islamic culture.  I had a pretty good grasp of God and how He interacted with me, and with the church people of my life’s realities.  

But, being in an all-Muslim nation, situated in the largest desert in the world, I had little idea of how God moved and worked in that context.  I did not yet know much about the Islamic world into which I was now stepping.  I had so much to learn, this PK / PW from the USA about experiencing God in a dramatically different setting.  (PK=Pastor’s Kid; PW=Pastor’s Wife…AKA, silently ‘POW’ in my thoughts.)

It was clear to me that, despite the absence of a known Christian presence on the ground, that did not stop God from being there.  As my time in the desert unfolded, it became more and more apparent that God was there in the desert camps.  It was not dependent on any physical presence, as important as that is.

He has commissioned us to “Go into all the world” with His Good News.  That is unquestionable.   God’s Spirit covers the earth, and we never know who’s heart is being drawn to Him.  “Go . . .”  “GO!” … The world waits for Him. . . He is not waiting for the world.

But God’s Hands are not tied by human failure or absence.  His Spirit knows no human boundaries.  His Love knows no bounds.  

Check out Janet’s book: Not Forgotten on Amazon