The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song. // Isaiah 35:1

Sometimes when I’m in the thick of it, I can’t see the fertile ground in which I’m walking. When the baby won’t sleep or my six year old is demanding or the laundry bombards my living room with piles, I often have to remind myself: I prayed for this. My feet were once so steeped in the desolate land of infertility, and sometimes it takes a moment of reminiscence in order to appreciate the abundance from which I now reside.

I think we do this a lot. Despite the gifts God provides in our lives, we get stuck in different sorts of deserts. Maybe your paychecks are too meager or your job is tiresome or your health is rocky. Whatever it is, it is easy to look down and see only the depleted soil beneath our feet.

I love the faith of the men in today’s Gospel, how they looked at the paralyzed man before them and saw the abundance of Christ. I’m sure they recognized the hopelessness as well. I’m sure that they saw the deserted wasteland we often also find ourselves in.

Yet, they persisted in faith, and Christ met their need with abundance.

So, to you, dear sister, who is stuck in the midst of the desert, “I say to you, rise” (Luke 5:24). And when that dry, dusty soil threatens to sink you, remember what God has already done, for “we have seen incredible things” (Luke 5:26).

[bctt tweet="Christ meets our needs with abundance. // @iambritcal" username="blessedisshe__"]

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