“A downpour in the desert is temporary; it will leave you thirsty if your roots are not planted by the stream. If they aren’t, finally getting your rain is one of the worst experiences you can have because it is not going to save you. And you will be left howling and unsufferable. . . . What is a raindrop to a river?”- Timothy Keller
“He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.”- Jeremiah 17:6 (NIV)
Timothy Keller continues Chapter 4 of What is Wrong with the World? with this observation. That the prophet Jeremiah gets at a difference in how people respond to their circumstances. Because the bush prepared itself to live in the desert, it can’t receive the good, the ‘prosperity.’ Certainly, on occasion downpours occur in the desert, but the rain fails to fundamentally change the bush. Although the bush gets greener for a moment, no actual change happens.
Conversely, the tree may experience a drought. Yet, the tree fundamentally remains the same. Thus, drought fails to change the tree’s vitality. Just like a downpour in the desert fails to transform the bush. Therefore, Pastor Keller underscores:
“If your roots are not planted by the stream . . . getting your rain is one of the worst experiences you can have because it’s not going to save you. On the other hand . . . the person who rests in God can weather the dry seasons. If bad things happen to them, their attitude is I may be disappointed, but those aren’t the main things I need. God is who I really want. The crucial thing is not what ‘precipitation’ we receive or whether we’re a little green or a little brown at any moment, but whether we are near the river.”
Today’s question: What Bible verses help keep you from settling for a downpour the desert? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Desert trees by nature”