When we've found ourselves in dry, barren places, the last thing we want to do is go back to where we came from and face what we have just recently left behind. Reality is, that when we have been drawn away into seclusion and God has spoken to us and seen us, He many times sends us back from whence we came. Sometimes He sends us back to very miserable place.
It reminds me as a kid when I would fall off my bicycle. The first thing that I would do is run to my parents and want to quit and run away. My parents, however, always sent me back to get on that bike. They would tell me to get back on it and try again and not let it beat me. They would hold on to the back end of that bicycle and encourage me to try it one more time, letting me help them.
Towards the end of Elijah's journey to the Mountain of God, Horeb, and his incredible meeting with God, Elijah receives this command:
1 Kings 19
15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came...."
Why? Why does God choose to send us back into hurtful, miserable situations? Because no one comes into the presence of God without receiving a new-found purpose and new-found power, because of a new-found perspective. Everything changes in the Presence of God. And it is that change in you that was needed all along for that miserable place you were in.
Think about it: Moses is sent back to Egypt, the one place he would have chosen never to return to, to reclaim God's chosen people, and he does so with incredible purpose, power, and perspective. Hagar is sent back to face Sarai but now has a new purpose, power, and perspective. Elijah is sent back with new purpose, power and perspective.
And what was the new perspective?
GOD IS WITH ME!
HIS PRESENCE IS WITH ME!
THOUGH MY CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE NOT CHANGED, I HAVE CHANGED!
I AM CONFIDENT BECAUSE
GOD'S PRESENCE IS WITH ME!
And when we return to those places with this new perspective, with accompanying power and purpose, we find that:
OUR GREATEST MISERY HAS SOMEHOW BECOME OUR GREATEST MINISTRY
Wherever you find yourself in your barren place, God wants you to go on a journey less traveled. A journey back into His presence where everything changes......everything within YOU changes, and your once miserable place becomes a powerful ministry to others.
2 Corinthians 1
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
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