Corona Devo 440

For the land you are about to enter and take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden. (11) Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys—which drinks water from the rain of heaven, (12) a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.  ~Deuteronomy 11:10-12

One of the best parts about knowing Jesus is the hope-for-tomorrow (literally and eternally) that faith in the One true God instills and promises to our hearts and minds. With Jesus, there are always better days ahead (Heaven being our ultimate destination), but it is also beneficial for us to remember how He has watered us even during our driest spells of life.

We can trust in God's promises (found in the Bible) for our tomorrow, and we can be encouraged and bolstered by God's track record of being-there-for-us during the desert-treks of life that we have made it through.

The Israelites experienced challenging times in Egypt, living as slaves and trying to forge a living in a desert land. They had to work hard for everything, including water. They remembered the land of Egypt...where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden (Deuteronomy 11:10).

Planting crops in a desert sounds dismal, but the Israelites went on foot to fetch water from the Nile...and God provided the water.

We've been through desert-periods too--when life became dry, dusty, fruitless, and joyless. A death, divorce, sickness, loss, mental battle or something along-those-lines depleted us and we became as dry as a desert.

God provided water through the creative outlet of irrigation ditches to the enslaved Israelites, and He gets creative with us during our dry times as well. Recall a desert time in your life--How did God bring you His "living water" to revive you and keep you growing in Him?

Did He irrigate you through the kindness of a stranger? During the financially-tight time of starting our own business, we received a cancelled (significant) bill in the mail, saying that the fees had been "waived".

Did He irrigate you through the sacrifice of a friend? I remember coming home from a hospital-stay once to find one of our neighbors doing our laundry because she felt that was the best way to serve our family of five at that time. (She was right!)

Did He irrigate you through the words of the Bible or a hymn/song? The Lord has revived my parched spirit many times by soaking me with a directly-applicable verse as applied to my situation/heart/pain at just the right time.

The Lord did not leave the Israelites "out to dry" in the desert of Egypt and nor does He abandon us during our dry or "desert" periods of life. Even when we feel parched and stranded, God will get creative in finding a way to irrigate His "water" to us, and to quench our appetites for Him. He will not let us die in the desert of life. Watch for Him: God is with us during our dry, parched, sad, mad, lonely, and painful places.  

And be encouraged, even if we are in a "desert" today: With Jesus, there are always better days (and land) ahead.

Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys—which drinks water from the rain of heaven, (12) a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.  ~Deuteronomy 11:11-12

That's our land being described: our lives with Jesus at the helm and watering our souls.  A land for which the Lord your God cares.  He cares so deeply for you today.  Believe it.

The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it (Deuteronomy 11:12): His eyes are always on us. When we are withering in the deserts of life, and when we have crossed over into the hills and valleys and feel well-watered and filled: The eyes of the Lord your God are always on us.

The Lord never leaves us. He is with us and watering us: from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year (Deuteronomy 11:12). Sometimes it is an almost invisible trickle, via an irrigation ditch as we trudge through a desert, but hang on, because you will soon take over...a land of hills and valleys—which drinks water from the rain of heaven (Deuteronomy 11:11).

For all of us that have been through a desert-period in life, we can attest that as we move out of the sorrow/pain/bitterness/hurt/numbness...a new land comes into view, and slowly, we are able to experience it.

Where there was once only dry-desert days and nights, there becomes a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain. We move from black and white back into color. Into a vibrant and full reality that existed before the desert-time, and exists once-again now that we have stepped out of the dry and parched place that we were in.

God has promised us His "irrigation". He will not forsake us, regardless of where we are in our journey, and He will always find a way to refresh our spirit, whether by an irrigation ditch when we're in a desert, or water from the rain of heaven when we are "in" a more lush land.

One of the best parts about knowing Jesus is the hope-for-tomorrow that faith instills and promises to our hearts and minds. With Jesus, there are always better days ahead.

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com