Day 17: Hope in a Scorched Land
“And the LORD will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”
Today we come to a portion of our passage that becomes incredibly personal. This is about you. This is about now. This is about restoration for you. Read this slowly and listen to the whispers of the Holy Spirit as you read.
And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places…
A scorched place is a barren place. It is a place where something once thrived and grew but has been burnt to the ground. A scorched place is a place where life has been aggressively wiped away, hope has been dashed, and the future razed to the ground.
“It is God’s desire to satisfy your desire in the most broken and barren place of your past or present.”
There is an historical military philosophy called the “scorched-earth” policy. This is a policy where the military comes into an area and burns and destroys everything of value; crops that supplied food, the water supply is poisoned, livestock killed, and with it food and an economy and much more. No one can live in a place like that.
How can desire be satisfied in a place like that?
If you apply this to your life, there is no greater message then this.
Where have you been scorched? In what area of your life did fire fall and life get stripped away? This is a place where life and hope once thrived and gave you strength for your day, but now there is nothing but scorched earth. A bomb was dropped. A sickening truth revealed. A lie told. A deception perpetrated. A betrayal that devastated. What event or moment in your past has left you barren and empty? Where is that place you need restoration?
Listen carefully. In that place, that scorched place, what is your deepest desire? What is your greatest need? What has been lost that you need restored?
ACTION: What is your desire in the aftermath of destruction? Write down your desire – it’s ok. Scripture teaches us that if you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desire of your heart.
It isn’t easy to find any delight in scored places, but notice it is not delight in circumstances – it is delight in the Lord.
It is into that place where the creative breath of God will breathe today. It is God’s desire to satisfy your desire in the most broken and barren place of your past or present. God will give strength to your bones and transform that wasteland into a well watered garden whose waters will never fail. Trust him.