Dry Places

As a young missionary, I was eager to spread the gospel to the unreached. Opportunity presented itself for me to go to Lodwar,(Kenya) to preach to the Trukanas. As I prepared for that mission nothing could snuff out the excitement and feeling of importance within me. There were brethren who were willing to offer me advice and counsel to ensure that I am making the right choice. The dryness of the area was among the things they cautioned me about. It was also during an era where violence and war among the Pokots, Trukanas, and the Karamojongs from Uganda was the norm. I listened but still my resolve was strong. I will go and share the good news with them. I was confident in the promise of God found in the great commission.

Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Matthew 28:19‭-‬20 ASV

The highlighted part was my great assurance. I might be in the desert of Trukana but I am not Alone. I eventually went and experienced great miracles and God’s divine presence throughout my stay in Lodwar.

You may not be in a physical dry place,like Trukana, but sometimes in life you feel like you are in a dry place. David tried to explain such dryness in his life. He called it a dry and weary land where there is no water.

O God, thou art my God; earnestly will I seek thee: My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, In a dry and weary land, where no water is.
Psalms 63:1‭, ‬ ASV

In that dry place be assured that you are not Alone.

The Lord is Emmanuel God with us, All the time.

God with us Always.

God with us until the end of ages.

God with us unto the ends of the world.

His role in the dry place is to fill you with refreshment. He continually restores your strength. To the extent that no one would even know that you are in a dry place. Because you are flourishing and glowing with glory.

Yahweh will always guide you [on] where to go and what to do. He will fill you with refreshment even when you are in a dry, difficult place. He will continually restore strength to you, so you will flourish like a well-watered garden and like an ever-flowing, trustworthy spring of blessing.

—Isaiah 58:11

Are you in a dry place? Are you feeling scorched and thirsty? Are you feeling tired and weary? Do not worry, you are not Alone. How about you allow the Lord to refresh and restore your strength. How about you trust him to carry you through.

In the few times I have been to Trukana for missionary work,I have experienced his renewal of strength and great refreshment. The joy that fills my heart as I fellowship with those believers is unexplainable.

Be refreshed in the dry place.

©Pastor Lucy Paynter.