Category: Stories of the Desert

Posted on

Thankful

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving

 and His courts with praise;

 give thanks to Him

 and praise His name.”

  Psalm 100:4

When I think of times I have been the most thankful, it is often when I have been doing without something, and then the situation has changed to “doing with”.  Being withoutseems to make beingwithmore meaningful.

[For me, one example that springs to mind is that not a day goes by that I do not sincerely thank God for flush toilets. Really!  Having grown up with that wonderful invention in every place I’d ever lived, I never realized its value and blessing until I began spending time in desert places that have none.  (Without going into detail, they’re called “squatty-potty’s” …..I’m sure you can get the idea.  The acrobatics involved only add to the adventure, and my gratitude!)  The point is that gratitude springs up most when we experience something good that we’ve not experienced before.]

The first time I visited the ruins of the Temple in Israel where Jesus had literally walked, I was struck by the different courtyards designated for different groups of people.  The “court” nearest to where God’s Presence resided allowed for spiritual leaders, then further back more common folk (men), then women and Gentiles (non-Jews).  If I had lived in that time, I would have been waaayyy in the back.  The literal experience of being so far away from where the ancient spiritual Presence and worship took place struck me deeply.

Because of what Jesus did in giving His Life for us, all those old categories crumbled away, and He made it possible to “come near” to Him.  We can walk through that gate…and keep moving through all those designated “courts”…right into His Presence.   Men, women, children, no matter your ethnicity, “status” in life, or any of the other categories with which people are labeled.

He simply opens up His Arms and says, “Come!”

 

 

Posted on

Calling All Nations

“You will summon a nation that you don’t know,

    and a nation that doesn’t know you will run to you

        because of the Lord your God…..”

Isaiah 55:5

How do you do with “out of the box” thinking?  Isaiah was a very, very out-of-the-box man.  Prophets always are.  He could “see” things that did not yet exist.  He could “see” at times with God’s Eyes.

Prophets not only “see” with God’s Eyes, but they also have such an impact that an entire nation may be affected.  In this passage, the person God is talking to apparently did three basic things:

  • Got involved with a nation he did not know;
  • Called to (summoned) that nation;
  • Was present for the nation to run to.

How often has God “ear-marked” people to step into a situation…or a nation, that they do not know, to tell those who have not heard the Good News, but did not go?  Jesus’ last words on this planet had to do with the word “GO”….”into all the world…”   Isaiah said it was an honorto be Called.

The exciting part of Isaiah’s verse is the impact upon the people to whom the “called one” went:  “…a nation that does not know you will runto you…”

“Because of the Lord your God.”

I had just a glimpse of that when I met two strangers – religious leadership men – who had been searching for anyone who was a Follower of Jesus.  They had never met one.  But they had found a verse in their own Book that said they should find a ‘person of the Book’ (Bible) and ask them to explain about Christ.  When they realized that I was a ‘person of the Book,’ their excitement was incredible.  Of course, I was trying to not panic, not knowing what they were expecting of me! 

We never know what God may stir in someone’s mind or heart, nor in a nation’s mind or heart.  But we can be certain that He is moving….stirring….in this world, and those who know Him must be willing to get involved in bringing understanding about Who God Is.  We don’t need all the answers….no one on earth has that!  But to the extent that you have come to know God, He calls on you to share that knowledge…that experience in your own life and heart….with whoever comes to you….calls on you….asks questions…..and identifies “Something” in you that connects you with God.

 

Posted on

United Nations Petition

UNITED NATIONS

FOURTH COMMITTEE PETITION

OCTOBER 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of this committee.

I come to you as a non-governmental, humanitarian American.   I have spent much time in the Saharawi refugee camps near Tindouf since my 1999.  During that first visit, I was approached by two United Nations personnel, working on a list of legally identified Saharawi adults who could be included in the pending referendum.  Of course, I did not qualify to be on that list.  That was 20 years ago, carried out by United Nations personnel!   What happened to all that documentation of the adults in the camps who could cast their vote  for their own futures?  What happened to your promise?

This was under your watch.

There has been no referendum.  That was the agreement for which they laid down their arms, fighting to return to their homeland free of Morocco’s occupation and control.  This has been under the UN’s watch.

It has now been 20 years of personalinvolvement for me, leading our humanitarian work in the camps.  I have also overseen dozens of volunteers who have been an on-going presence among the refugees for 15 years.  That represents hundreds of eye-witnesses of the realities in the refugee camps, with experience of allof their realities.  We have witnessed and livedtheir reality.

Under your watch, there has been no referendum.

Under your watch there is steadily decreasing food in the camps.

Under your watch, the refugees in the camps continue to receive news of family members suffering brutalhuman rights abuses, even death, by Moroccan troops.

This situation continues to be a horrible travesty by governments, including the UN, against a nation that was forcibly displaced by the invasions of Morocco and Mauritania, and with the cooperation of Spain at the time.  Mauritania and Spain chose to do the right thing and leave the conflict decades ago.  Morocco has chosen the opposite course and become brutaly entrenched in the homeland of the Saharawi people.

I have made it a practice to ask the common people living in the camps what they remember of their country…Western Sahara.  One of those stories I want to tell you now….

Muna was 5 years old. One morning, she saw her father come rushing through the front door, hurriedly spoke with her mother, and then watched her mom and dad begin frantically packing clothes, food, water and important papers.  She did not know what was happening.  Her mom gathered Muna’s baby sister and bigger brothers, giving them  belongings to carry, and rushed out the door to their car. Muna, wide-eyed and beginning to cry, was taken by her daddy’s strong hand and pulled out their front door.  He locked the door…their blue front door, trying to be calm and told Muna they must hurry.  He said they would come back soon.

Holding her father’s hand, Muna’s little legs had a hard time keeping up.  She began to cry.  Looking back at her home, her eyes fixed upon the blue door.   With her final view, she made herself a promise.  “Someday I will come back, and I will find my blue door,  and I will be home.”

Muna still waits. She longs to see her blue door again. Now, without her mother and father who died waiting in the camps years ago, she waits for her promise to come true….to return to her home in freedom, now with her own children, to find her blue door, … walk through it and finally be HOME, as a nation.

Under yourwatch, I  BEG you to MOVE this thing.  Do what is right.  Go there…talk to the people….see for yourselves the horrible injustice that the United Nations has been a part of for decades now, yet with NO justice or resolve. 

IF YOU CANNOT or WILL NOT DO ANYTHING, THEN SAY SO, AND LET EVERYONE MOVE ON.

Janet Lenz

International Faith and Peace Dialogues

Posted on

Holding Hands

“A person’s fear sets a trap for him,

but one who trusts the Lord is safe.”

Prov. 29:25

Fear has been a core theme of my life, unfortunately!   When I think of a fearful person, the picture I get is of someone looking all over the place for the “danger” they fear.  Up, down, side-to-side, head ducking down, shoulders and arms held close for protection, and a serious crick in the neck.  Basically, trying to make yourself small and least noticable as possible.

On the other hand, Trustis a very different image.  Trust isn’t focused on the ground, or making yourself “small.”  Trust looks toward the goal and keeps moving ahead, step by step.  Not foolishly nor carelessly nor even very confidently, perhaps.  But just enough courage to take the next steps . . . one at a time.

Sign language for the word “TRUST” is that of one hand above, one hand below, palms coming together in a clasp.  God’s Hand extended toward mine, my hand moving up into His, open and empty, ….until our hands meet and clasp…like a child holding Daddy’s hand.

When we are looking all around us, eyes darting to see any possible danger, we’re not focusing on the goal of our journey. If our hands are full of all the items that we think will help us be safe, we don’t have our hand free to grab onto His.  Being preoccupied with being safe may be the very distraction that causes us to miss what was actually the goal.

I remember one very dark night in the desert (no electrical lights existed) I was walking, having come from a very upsetting situation.  So absorbed in my emotional turmoil, I took a step into “nothing”, and landed in a very dark, very large, deep hole.  A strong man’s hand reached down to find mine, and pulled me up onto solid ground.  In the blackness of the night, I couldn’t see anything, but that strong hand brought me out of the dark pit and onto solid ground. 

Whose Hand are you holding?  It isn’t possible to hold a Hand from a distance….you can only be an arm’s length away.  Stay close to Him.  Hold His Hand, and never let go!!

 

Posted on

Unexpected Generosity

“All goes well for the person who is generous and lends willingly.

He earns an honest living.”

Psalm 112:5

 

Money and possessions really matter in our world.   It seems that has always been true.

Stepping into a world that has little in the way of possessions or money is very jarring….even shocking.  This verse goes to the core of that heart issue.  It almost seems an upside-down order.   It begins with giving money away, and then talks about how it comes to us.  The verse begins with the attitude towards what we have, and then the way it comes into our hands.

I had an upside-down experience concerning money during my first visit to the refugee camps.  My translator, a Saharawi refugee himself, told me of a man, a stranger, approaching him in the airport, asking if he could “borrow” some money from my translator.   Knowing how very poorthe refugees are, I found it offensive that any stanger would ask for money from one of them. Expressing my shock and distaste for the man asking to borrow the money, my friend quickly explained that he was actually very honored to have been asked.  “Why would you be honored by that?!” I asked.  He quickly responded, “There were so many people in that airport, and the man could have  asked anyof them for the help.  But out of all those people, he asked me!  He perceived that I would be willing to help him.  That was a big honor for me!”   And he gladly gave the man some money….never seeing him again.  Yet, he went on his way feeling privileged to have been able to help a stranger.  His dignity and desire to be able to be on the giving side was a big lesson for me.

My friend eventually was chosen to work for his people in their government in another country, where he has a good job and continues to serve his people in a meaningful way.

As God’s people, may “the stranger” sense that we value themmore than what we have…what we own.  May generosity be so much a part of our lives that we can see it as a privilege to help others.

Posted on

Mercy

“Your mercy, O Lord,

fills the earth.

Teach me your laws.”

Psalm 119:64

“Mercy” and the “Laws” usually are not two words that normally go together in my head.I would normally think of “LAW” as the standard from which I would need the “MERCY.”

In reality, most of us need mercy because we have screwed up a law. 

The Psalm writer has a perspective of this earth that sees God’s mercy as the primary reality of his experience.  He has experienced great mercy throughout his life.  Once we truly realize God’s Laws we see how much mercy God hasgiven us all along.

When I first stepped into the desert world of my Saharawi people, I was a “westerner” who crashed into their Bedouin culture.  I had no idea of the values and traditions that were so deeply woven into their thoughts, values, and actions.  I wasn’t handed a manual of “do’s and don’t” when I arrived.  They just graciously moved with me as I stumbled along as a Westerner in their Eastern world.  (Who knew that we shouldn’t walk in front of everybody to find our seat in the “tea circle”…. Or that we ladies shouldn’t stand with the sunlight behind us, illuminating the shorts and tank tops we wore under the gauzey wraps in the 120 degree heat, … or that we should walk behind everyone as we went to our seats around the tea circle…etc., etc., etc.) They were too polite to say anything about how offensive and inappropriate our actions were to their cultural ‘laws.”

 When we finally realized that we were trouncing all over their cultural “laws” and began learning and following them, we all collectively breathed a sigh of relief!   We hadn’t learned their “laws” of appropriate cultural codes.  Once we did, and began to practice them, things took a beautiful turn for the better.  They felt so honored that we would choose to adjust “our ways” to embrace their world.

It’s like that with God.  When we step into God’s Kingdom, He does not slap a long list of Laws into our hands and require us to memorize and follow all of them.  We never could.  But His Mercy patiently allows us to be in relationship with Him, even though we are doing so many things “wrong.”  As we begin to find our footing in His Kingdom, we begin to wantto know His Ways….so that we can walk in them as we follow Him, out of the growing love between us.

Posted on

Different Worlds

Different Worlds is a blog post from Janet Lenz from Desertsprings blog

“I will give thanks to You

as I learn Your regulations,

which are based on your righteousness.

I will obey your laws.

Never abandon me.”

Psalm 119:7-8

If you’ve ever spent time in a foreign country, you know how much goes on in normal life there that seems strange.  You’ve stepped into “their world” and it may take a while for you to even realize how different that world is.  For example, you may rent a car from the airport in London, but you quickly notice that the steering wheel is on the “wrong side” of the car, and everyone there is driving on the “wrong side” of the road. Unless you make a very quick course adjustment, you’ll soon find yourself on the “wrong side” of the law. But it’s their world,and YOU are the one who needs to make the course adjustments.

God’s Kingdom is completely different from our world on this earth.  But it’s HIS World, and guess who needs to make the course adjustments when you enter into it!!

The first few years that I stepped into the desert world of the Saharawi, I was not thinking about how their world operated.  I was operating in my world.  I couldn’t understand why they did the things they did, especially because I thought myworld, myways were better.  I would usually end up standing before some leader there in tears, because nothing had worked out the way I had planned.

Guess who needed to adjust the plans???   I had come with all the details worked out of how this would go. It was a GREAT plan!   But it was as if, in showing my plan to God,  He patiently looked it over, then kindly crumpled it up and tossed it over His shoulder.  With a wink and a smile, He took my hand and proceeded to walk me through the Plan He was already unfolding.

I not only had to look to Him for His Plans, but I had to become a “learner” of the Saharawi’s world….how they did things….what they valued….how their world worked.  And after many years of frustration, I began to discover the wisdom and realities of their world.  Life became much less stressful and much more fruitful.

God’s regulations are perfect.  Period. He put it – and us – together in the first place.  He knows how it – and we – best work out on this globe and in His World.  To run around in this life, doing what we think is best . . . what we want life to be, how we want things to go, will most likely not go well.  As we live in His Kingdom, we must be willing to learn. Life in His Kingdom is SO different from the kingdoms of this world.  We don’t know how to do it. We need to posture ourselves as “learners” of His Kingdom.  His ways, His Laws, His regulations will be absolutely perfect, as He is Perfect.  And as He kindly gives us understanding, insight, patience, and countless “2nd,3rd,4th, gazilian” chances, we begin to understand the incomparable benefit of following His Ways.

Notice how this verse ends. . .  a plea for what matters most:  “Never abandon me.”   There is no comparison of this world to His Kingdom.  He promised to never leave us….never abandon us.  Stop fighting what He has set up for our good.  Hold tightly to His Hand, as He holds to ours, and trust Him as He shows us, step by step, how His Kingdom works….the Kingdom into which He has invited us.

Posted on

What Are You Looking At?

“But the Lord told Samuel,

“Don’t look at his appearance or how tall he is,

because I have rejected him [David’s oldest brother].

God does not see as humans see.

Humans look at outward appearances,

but the Lord looks into the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

Samuel was God’s Prophet, and his assignment was to find the next King for God’s nation.  The “old” King was on a downward spiral and had to be replaced.  It was Samuel’s job to find the man God had chosen to be the new King.  But Samuel was looking for someone that fit his formula for a good king.

God already had made His choice, but it was not anyone that “fit” the qualifications for which Samuel was looking.

God’s choice was not a strong, wise, well-educated, experienced nor powerful man.  This was not a successful, famous leader.  He was not someone who had a proven track-record in business or economics or corporate success.  He was the “little brother.”  His renown only went as far as his dad, his brothers, and a bunch of sheep.

He was just a kid. His name was David.

Outwardly, there was no logical reason to consider that God would choose to use The Kid.  But God had been watching him before he was even born….the baby of the family.  He was watching as little David often got the “short end of the stick” in his family.  God saw how often David was left behind as his big brothers went off to do more “special things”….big-boy things, while David had to take care of a bunch of sheep.  Not an easy job.  They were not easy animals to care for…very low on the intelligence charts, easy targets for lions and bears, and pretty much anything else that had teeth. David’s focus each day was basically saving their lives….making sure they’re not eating deadly plants or falling off cliffs.  It was hard work, and very lonely.

But what God saw most in this young boy was his heart.  He was learning to know God through the challenges of his years of caring for those sheep:  God’s Nature, His Goodness,  His Mercy,

His Protection, His Presence, His Loving-kindness, and His Power. He could never have imagined what God had planned for his future. . . as one of the greatest Kings in history.

May we learn to see each other with even a glimpse of how God sees us . . . even the “most unlikely.”

Posted on

Water Song

“Spring up, O well!

Sing about it.”

Numbers 21:17

God’s people had been going through a horrible time!  Slaves  of Egypt for hundreds of years,  running through the desert andthe Red Sea from Pharoah’s army, with the wall of the sea looming all along their panicked flight. . . then into another desert.   They had been bitten by snakes, struck with plague, learning how to follow leaders who didn’t know where they were going.  Frustration, hunger, running for their lives with children, animals, elderly, and sick people was their new way of life. They’d seen people swallowed up by the earth, being led through the days by a cloud…and the most awesome “nightlight” of fire. And it all took place through an impossible desert. No convenient natural water sources.  Always on the move, sleeping in temporary shelters, days..weeks…months….eventually 40 years. Including the hundreds of years as slaves in Egypt (desert!), this has to be the most horrendous refugee situation in history.

But all the while, God continued to be with them, tolerating their disobedience, bad attitudes, and complaints. They’d lost a lot of ground in Egypt personally, spiritually and culturally.  Yet He always gave them another chance, usually through miracles He orchestrated. They’d learned so much about Who God Is through that journey.  They were still His people.

Now they were on the move again.  God had allowed poisonous snakes to bite His complaining people.  But He also provided a remedy:  Moses’ bronze snake on a pole.  They only had to look at it to live.

Still in the desert, they arrived at a well.  God told Moses, “Gather the people, andI will give them water.” (Num.21:16-18)

Then God’s people sang this song,

“Make your water spring up!

Sing to the well,

The well dug by princes

Dug out by the nobles of the people

With their scepters and staffs.”

Did those past Princes, using their scepters, know that they were digging a well for God’s refugee People?   Did those Nobles of the past, using their shepherd’s staffs, realize that they were digging a well that would be used by God to bless His people, led by a Shepherd who had been trained to be a Pharoah?  Did God’s people know that He had prepared it long ago to keep them alive at that moment in time?

God knew exactly what was coming in the future.  He knew that His beloved people would pass through that desert place some day in desperate need of water.  He had provided long before their need passed that way.

We do not know what will come tomorrow in our lives.  Perhaps we would not even want to know.  We do not know how things we do today will affect our tomorrow…or the tomorrows of others.  But God knows. . . exactly.  And His Plans of how He will use those human efforts for His Purposes are already reality in His Mind.  Nothing escapes Him.

We can trust in the Truth that He can use anything for our good.  It’s our job to hold tightly to His Hand as He continues to bring into existence the proof of His unfailing Love and Purposes for us.

Unlikely people . . . unlikely circumstances . . . unimagined tragedy may invade our lives.  Yet, whether we truly believe it or not, He’s got this!     And we can join that ancient song of Hope and Truth:   “Spring up, O Well!”   Spring up in me.

 

Posted on

Whispers

Whispers a blog post written by Janet Lenz

 “Who is this that comes up from the wilderness,

leaning upon her Beloved?”

Song of Solomon 8:5.

I miss him.  I miss the Love of my Life.  I had never imagined any stage of my life without him.  There are SO many sweet, beautiful, loving and lovely memories that appear and swirl through my heart and mind.  Unexpected flashes of moments that I had forgotten, yet carrying the emotion and images of a memory.

He was my biggest cheerleader through the years, encouraging and cheering me on as I would step onto new ground, new life experiences, and new ventures.

Nearly crippled by fear the first time I headed to the Great Desert, my literal wilderness, I was panicking and trying to convince myself (and him) that this was only a test by God to see how far I’d go in facing my fears.  He calmly spoke words of truth to my frantic heart. I went….with his love and blessing.

I miss him.

And I was telling God how much I miss him.  Tears came.   Standing in my little kitchen, with a papertowel catching the tears, my heart whispered, “I miss being held.”

Within a heartbeat, I sensed God’s Presence so very near, and heard His gentle Whisper,  “I Am holding you.  I Am here.”

The Whisper continues . . .