Provision In Wastelands~

Isaiah 58:11  And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

The well of Providence is deep.  It’s the buckets we bring to it that are small. –Mary Webb

I don’t understand why there must be orphans in the world.  I don’t understand why families are torn apart.  I don’t understand when we live in such a blessed nation, why there are still homeless people.  I don’t understand why good people die and bad people live.  Although a divorcee, I don’t understand divorce.  I don’t understand why there seems to be a prevalent need for single-parent homes in our society.  I don’t understand why parents don’t step up to the task of child-rearing. I don’t understand government infringement.  I don’t understand why when you try to find answers and solutions to questions and problems that you come up with more questions than the answers.

I. just. don’t.  understand.

But…Though Life be Unfair, God is GOOD!  He really..truly..is!  He quenches my thirst even when the desert is the driest.  When there seems no way out, He makes a way.  Sometimes the “way” is not the “way” I’d like, but then again…HE KNOWS.  The crack on my desert floor, that’s somehow turned into a ravine, just may be the valley He has me walk through to keep me shadowed from the scorching sun.   He knows what’s best.
   
Recently I heard a beautiful song that was played and sung by a very accomplished singer & muscician.  I really don’t know the title of the song but there is a lyric that rings true with me today.

It simply says, “He makes it rain for me”.  The song tells of a life that is battered by trouble and heartache and somehow God uses that to show forth His greatness in a person’s life. 

I do understand this:  it is altogether possible to live a full life even while in the emptiest of places. 

I understand this because I understand that I serve a God of  the miraculous.  I understand that I serve the one true and living God that can make something out of absolutely nothing, and in so doing, somehow makes it appear as though it’s been there forever, somehow just overlooked!:-D  That’s the kind of God I serve.

So in times when I feel at my whit’s end, not knowing what to think or do, I go back again to His promises.  His Word is both a teacher and a comforter.  In this passage of His Word I find that I need to “let go & let God”…that instead of being stingy with myself I need to be generous, giving of what I do have.  I am reminded that in my “Mother-Hubbard-World” where everything seems to look empty, dark, and forboding, God will make my life shine for His glory.

You see, in God’s hands I become a little glow-in-the-dark star.  When He chooses to turn the light on, the shadow in which I live will somehow be bathed in sunlight. Somehow God can use the old rubble of  “Past” and build a new “Future”. He can rebuild foundations.  He can take the shattered pieces and make something new with them (He has a Masters in Art).  He can give the strength needed for the restruction of our shattered life-stories. He makes beauty from ashes.
 
Following His leading I will always be shown where to go…somehow.  And in so doing, will be given a full life in the emptiest of places—a life firm, strong, flourishing, full, and beautiful! For when one has Jesus…they have all they need.
    
Vs. 12)  Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.