Most people can appreciate a sunny day. Severe storms? Not so much. Yet the storm of the century in Death Valley National Park precipitated an incredible transformation. A deluge of rain fell unexpectedly, depositing more than a year’s rainfall in a single day. Roads flooded, trails became impassable, and the park closed for weeks.
Two months later, the hottest place on earth was still wet. Wildflowers bloomed out of season. The typically dry Badwater Basin became home to a shallow lake. The change in the landscape was so profound that park rangers reported they hadn’t seen anything like it in over eighteen years.
As uncomfortable as our “death valleys” are, they can also birth new things. Yet instead of changing the landscape around us, God uses the low points in our lives to change us. We may feel we are dying, but what we feel and what is true are not necessarily the same.
God brings beauty out of barren places. A job loss is devastating until it opens the door to a new, rewarding career. Classes are overwhelming until we graduate. Childbirth is brutal until the baby arrives, and the labor pains become a vague memory.
Life forces us to experience things, but we do not have to fear them. With Jesus as our Counselor, Comforter, and Advocate, our dry places can eventually suit God’s purpose.
Even when we bring hot situations upon ourselves, God is merciful. Moses was a murderer, but God chose him to liberate the Israelites from Egypt. Abraham took Sara’s maid, trying to fulfill God’s plan hastily, yet he received the promised son from his once barren wife.
Like these unlikely heroes, our mistakes don’t define us either. The fear of failure should never hold us hostage. We can live with confidence when we focus on our faith and embrace the new things our Father does in and through us.
God brings dead things to life. Think of some dead areas you need to turn over to God. Then watch what He will do.
Lilka is a writer.