desert streams

I should probably go to work but procrastinating is so much easier... getting pumped to work football in the rain takes time. This summer I met a high school student... who at first glance appears to have it all together. Her parents are Christians, she grew up in the church and has not denied her faith, but... we had some great conversations questioning is that enough? She isn't breaking any laws... isn't disrespecting her parents... isn't neglecting church... but she decided she wanted to go deeper. Our camp pastor that week suggested she get the devotional "streams in the desert." It was originally written by L.B. Cowman in 1925 and James Reimann has updated it. I bought the book hoping to encourage my new friend I'd read it with her. I'm not sure she ever bought it... but nevertheless I've benefitted from it.

There is obviously a reoccurring theme about dealing with the bad stuff... some of that why do bad things happen to good people... or how to move forward in your faith when things seem to be pulling you back. One analogy was a gardener that told the homeowner that if he was going to tend his grapes he had to prune them all back. For two years they didn't have any grapes but then the vines flourished. At first the gardener probably looked stupid... for two years... there was nothing, but then the fruit came back even stronger.

On September 30th, there's a story about a little plant in the forest whose growth was stunted because it was hidden in the shade of a giant oak tree, but the plant valued the shade and protection the tree provided... until a woodsman came in and chopped the oak down. The plant was upset he was left unprotected and scared he would be uprooted by the wind and storms. But in reality... the plant was exposed to the sunlight that would help the plant grow stronger and bloom flowers making it better than it ever could have been in the shade of the oak. There was a bigger blessing waiting for the plant that it couldn't see beyond the oak.

A quote from streams... "Dear believer, do you understand that God may take away your comforts and privileges in order to make you a stronger Christian? Do you see why the Lord always trains His soldiers not by allowing them to lie on beds of ease but by calling them to difficult marches and service? He makes them wade through streams, swim across rivers, climb steep mountains, and walk many long marches carrying heavy backpacks of sorrow. This is how He develops soldiers-- not by dressing them up in fine uniforms to strut at the gates of the barracks or to appear as handsome gentlemen to those who are strolling through the park. No, God knows the soldiers can only be made in battle and are not developed in times of peace. We may be able to grow the raw materials of which soldiers are made, but turning them into true warriors requires the education brought about by the smell of gunpowder and by fighting in the midst of flying bullets and exploding bombs, not by living through pleasant and peaceful times."