Rivers in the Desert

Isaiah 43:19

“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Maybe you find yourself in a spiritual desert or wilderness, whether it is where you work, live, or minister. You find yourself surrounded by spiritual apathy, no spiritual life, or actual antagonism against spiritual things. Maybe your own life feels a little dry or you feel you are in a spiritual rut. I believe God wants to do a new thing in your life, your family, your church, community, and job. But that new thing can only spring forth as we allow Him to build a road in the wilderness or bring a river into your desert.

Jesus said in John 7:37-39, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Isaiah said God would make rivers in the desert. Jesus said, “…out of our heart will flow rivers of living water.” The source of living water for your desert begins with your relationship with God. The new thing begins when you become so thirsty for God that you cannot be satisfied with anything else. Jesus said we must come to Him, we must believe in Him, and we must receive Him. The man who found a treasure in a field sold everything He had to buy the field. To come into the fullness of what God has for us we have to sell out to the River Maker.

Jesus identifies the Holy Spirit as the living water that will flow out of us to water our desert. Now, in the context of this Scripture, it says the Holy Spirit had not yet come because Jesus had not yet been glorified, meaning He had not yet died, risen, and ascended to the Father. But I believe in a spiritual sense the Holy Spirit is unable to refresh our desert because Christ has not yet been glorified in us. As a believer, the Holy Spirit resides in you, but His presence, this living water, has not been manifested in your life, family, or job because Christ has not yet been glorified in you.

The key to a road in your wilderness and rivers in your desert is not only a pursuit of Christ, the treasure in the field, but a willingness to glorify Him in the midst of your wilderness and desert. Exalt His Name on your job, in your family, and in your church. Involve Him in your dry places, and rivers of living water will spring out of you, bringing refreshing into your environment. Be a cup of cold water for someone today in the Name of Jesus, and see what He will do for and through you for His glory.

Andy Clark