As we continue this thought of finding ourselves in a barren and desolate place like Mount Horeb, I wanted to take a look at this journey that God takes us on. Read the two previous blogs to catch you up!

When we hit a desolate place, God invites us on a journey that begins with Him secluding us. God takes us into seclusion. He gets us alone with Him so that we can get into His presence and not have any distractions.

God takes us on this journey back into His heart, His Presence to get us to cease all of the activity for Him and return to intimacy with Him.

When was the last time you just got alone in the Presence of your Maker and silenced the roars of life around you? When was the last time you got so wrapped up in the busyness of life, even good Christian-y things, only to realize that in your busyness, you missed God?

Many times, God allows us these moments of desolation and dry, barrenness in order to take us on a journey with Him....to reignite the basics of our faith and the source of our faith that can many times get lost in the activity.

If you are a fellow Horebite who finds yourself in a desolate place, let that "alone-ness" be an opportunity for God's Presence to be rediscovered in your life. He has not gone anywhere; maybe you've just gotten too busy and have forgotten. Let God seclude you so He can speak to you. More on that Monday.

To continue this thought about being side-swiped, when something hits you out of nowhere, or you are rockin along and then find yourself in a dry, barren place, I want us to continue looking at the life of Elijah. He flees to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. Mount Horeb is the same place where Moses had his burning bush experience. Mount Horeb. Horeb means "barren; desolate". The mountain in which Elijah was lead to implied the state of his own soul, barren and desolate.

Felt like that before, and wondered what it was about, and what to do about it?

 ⁷ The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." ⁸ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. ⁹ There he went into a cave and spent the night. 

Have you ever looked at these moments of being sideswiped as a journey? In the past, I have viewed the side-swiping as the journey and the goal was just trying to get past it and move on!!! I have agreed with Elijah "I've had enough!". In our microwave mentality, we want to fix things quickly and move on. Anybody?

But notice that Elijah left his servant and journeyed for a day alone into the desert. There, he was instructed to eat because the journey ahead of him was too much for him. You see, the side-swiping of life is only the invitation to a greater journey: a journey that will be too much for you to handle on your own. A journey less traveled in our "quick-fix" society. This journey is Divinely designed just for you, to drive you back to the Only One who can mend, heal, grow, and transform your heart.

At salvation, God was inviting you into an intimate relationship with Him.

1 Corinthians 1:9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

1 Corinthians 1:26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called.



Just as we are called to our initial salvation, God continues to call and invite us back into intimacy with Him when the storms of life hit us and knock us off course. God is inviting you in the midst of your barren place to go on a journey with Him....to return to His Presence and His Peace. Will you join Him? 

This past Halloween was new for our family. In the past, we have always been at a Fall Festival or some kind of gathering and have missed being home. This year, Jorja wanted to stay home and hand out goodies to the trick-or-treaters, and so we did. One little guy came to the door dressed as Spiderman, and I squatted down to let him choose a goodie. When I stood up, closed the door and turned around, I was sideswiped by a green-icing cupcake in the face!

Ever had moments in your life where you are sideswiped by something? A sudden job loss, sickness, rebellious child, etc.? Or how about those seasons in life where you are just emotionally and spiritually dry? Maybe life, marriage, and your walk with God are mundane and empty. What do you do about it?

In 1 Kings 18-19, we see Elijah, the only prophet left to Israel, because the King's wife, Jezebel is killing off all of the prophets who worship the One True God and not Baal. God had used Elijah in powerful ways: no rain for 3 years, and the altar battle between God and the gods of Baal only to have the One True God prevail. I mean, Elijah had seen some mighty works of God; he had to know that there was nothing God could not do! And yet he finds himself depressed because even after all of his hard work, the people do not turn back to God, and he finds himself afraid because Jezebel is after him to kill him.

When life is going well, we get so comfortable in our life, our marriage, and our walk with God. And many times, when we get comfortable, we also become complacent. In our complacency, we begin to forget the things that God has brought us through, or the mighty things that we have seen God do. We simply get too caught up in life that we forget. We forget what He has done and what He is capable of doing and become depressed and afraid when the proverbial cupcake hits us. Anybody?

There was a song years ago that sang:
In everything give Him thanks, give Him thanks
In the good times, praise His name
In the bad times, do the same
In everything, give the King of Kings, all the thanks

Psalm 42:4-6 (NIV)

 ⁴ These things I remember
       as I pour out my soul:
       how I used to go with the multitude,
       leading the procession to the house of God,
       with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
       among the festive throng.
 ⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul?
       Why so disturbed within me?
       Put your hope in God,
       for I will yet praise him,
       my Savior and ⁶ my God.

 If you find yourself at a place where you have been sideswiped by life or are just so empty, and if you need God's presence to enter in and breath life into your situation or marriage, would you choose to praise Him? His presence comes to those who praise Him. His peace comes to those who praise Him; those who choose to praise Him even when there may appear to be no reason to praise.

With Halloween and green-icing cupcakes behind us, we enter into a season of Thanksgiving....even in the midst of a struggle or dry place, we encourage you to take the time to praise the Lord and give Him thanks for what He has done in the past and what He is able to do in your future. Guard against getting comfortable and complacent. Remember your great God. He is able.

You are loved,
Dale and Jena