I had the opportunity to spend 14 days in Israel. This was a dream come true and an experience I really cherished. The most important part of the trip for me may have been the desert experience. When we think about the desert our minds typically turn to the challenges and extreme danger associated with a desert.

• Lack of water
• Extreme heat
• Deadly animals
• Dangerous terrain
• Lack of food and nutrition

The truth is, the desert brings us imagery of hopelessness, loss, and ultimately death. This truth was experienced by the Israelites as they wandered for 40 years in the desert. As we read through this account and consider their journey it’s easy to take for granted what they experienced and overlook the journey they were on.

Let’s take a moment to take a step back and consider what took place in the desert for them. The journey through the desert positioned the Israelites in the most desperate of situations. They were in a seemingly hopeless situation and they found their only hope of survival by wholly trusting in the provision of the Lord. Probably one of the most important aspects of their wilderness journey is what they learned during the 40 years. Imagine what people were feeling as they wandered. They had such high hopes for the promised land. They could remember the bitterness of slavery and they had hopes for a better future.

Take a moment to pause.

I think this describes us in many ways.

As some of you are reading this you are instantly considering your own life. You may not be in a physical desert, but you are experiencing a “desert season” in your life. You find yourself filling your head with doubts and questioning God’s will for your life. You may have experienced some kind of failure recently. What possible worth could there be in the waiting? In the pain of the desert? Why would a loving God allow us to go through desert seasons?

Theological Framework:

First, lets take a look at Acts 17:24-28. This passage is a source of incredible encouragement for me. My specific boundaries and geographic location were determined by God. Not only our boundaries but even the “allotted periods”. This at the most practical level means that our work, school, families, and homes that we live in are allotted and determined by God for a purpose, namely our good and His glory.

Hope in the desert:

The Israelites experience in the desert was meaningful and not meaningless. They learned how serious God was about his Holiness and his people living according to his laws. They learned humility in being forced to trust God when the had no way to provide for themselves. During the course of 40 very difficult years, they experienced the simple and life giving blessings of the Lord. These experiences caused them to return to the hope they had in God.

Your desert is not meaningless. The job that you have is not meaningless. The neighborhood that you live in is not by accident nor is it meaningless. There is a purpose and God is working in your desert to provide simple blessings to cause you to remember the hope that can only be found in him.

Learning in the desert:

Human nature and our current cultural trends have us focusing on the destination. There is much more focus and drive to achieve and arrive at the goal. In the process we create a tunnel vision that causes us to miss the beauty of the journey. In Israel our tour guide, Boaz; focused on this aspect of our behavior as we walked up to the Mt. of Beatitudes. So many of us were focused on getting there, that we missed the beauty of the sea of Galilee that can only be seen on a certain part of the journey up.

Our hyper focus on getting ourselves out of the desert season we may be in may not be the best for us. Just as the Israelites had to learn important lessons, we must also. The desert just happens to be the means by which God teaches at times. What can you learn in your desert? How is God working to shape and form you in His likeness and image? What are the frustrations that you bring to God and are pleading with him to resolve so you can move on to the bigger and better?

It’s in these questions that we find the grace of God and we begin to see his will and purpose for our life a bit clearer. As we realize what God is teaching us, we can be encouraged to know that he also has a plan for us and is working in a 100 different ways simultaneously to cause us to reflect Him and prepare us for the future.

There is meaning in our desert. There is a value in our waiting. God is actively working and shaping us and uses the desert seasons of our life to accomplish this. Be encouraged, the desert will come to an end. The saddest thing is if the desert comes to an end and we missed out on all that God had desired for us to learn in that season.

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On Fathers Day every where we look we see a celebration of fatherhood filled with special food and drinks. Fun activities and basically a day filled with doing whatever dad wants to do. It’s a joyous day! It’s a fun day! Then you wake up Monday morning and that sense of exhilaration is gone only to be replaced with being weary and tired.

You wake up weary, tired, there is a sense of brokenness and anxiety as you roll out of bed and begin your routine. You see, I don’t really want to engage with or talk to the excited and pumped up dad on Fathers day, I want to talk to the dad the morning after.

Why Weary?

It’s hard work and exhausting being dad. From the moment we got married and then had kids, our world turned upside down. The college adolescent days of partying, late nights, and binge watching tv shows or playing games came to an end. If it hasn’t come to an end, it should! We can still have fun and actually, it’s important that we do. However, its a different world filled with constantly thinking about how we are going to provide for our kids, if our families needs are met, how to achieve the next promotion or raise to help create some breathing room for our family in the budget. We wake up thinking about those things and go to bed with them rolling around in our minds.

This leaves us weary and tired. However, there is good news. The scriptures give us hope and as fathers we can hold on to these four truths.

God is sovereign regardless of circumstance:

Let’s speak candid. We are not the kings of our castle. If we were, there is plenty of reason to not only be weary but terrified. Everything will crumble around us as we realize how unable we are to handle all that is on our shoulders. The good news is that God is ultimately and sufficiently sovereign. That means he rules everything and everything is subject to his Kingship. All we have to do is turn to John 1:1-3 to see this tremendous truth. Since this is true, our circumstances don’t shake God. The details and concerns that keep us up at night don’t stress God out. He is in control of all of it and is working those things together for our good and His glory. God is King of our circumstances and in an almost mysterious way he works through our circumstances to cause us to grow in our love and affections for Him.

If there is doubt that is creeping into your heart about this truth take a moment to read John 1:1-7 and the book of Job. John 1:1-7 gives us the theological framework for this truth. The book of Job shows us how this plays out in the life of one of God’s faithful servants.

P.S – If you are a wife reading this take a moment in the day to remind your husband of this truth. Encourage him and pray this over him.

God is sovereign regardless of circumstance:
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We are not on our own:

Now that we know that God is sovereign there is a tremendous implication to this truth. We are not on our own. We have a tendency to walk through our day, make plans, and take actions with the mindset that we are on our own. Sometimes we keep things from our wives or loved ones fearing that they will stress out so we take this tremendous burden on by ourselves. If God is sovereign, and we know he is; we also know that he is active in our lives. He didn’t create the world by speaking and then walk away like an absentee father. Some of you may have experienced that growing up. An absentee father physical or even emotional is painful. God did not walk away, rather after creation he stepped into humanity and remained active. God is empathetic and truly cares for the people he created in his likeness and image.

For the weary father, this truth is like holding your breath under water to the point of passing out and then coming out of the water and getting that first breath of fresh air. It is life giving. Literally life giving. Knowing God is with us, and that he walks alongside us should fill us with hope and joy. It’s like going into a pick up basketball game with the 95’96 Michael Jordan walking next to you (Yea, I went there) Unstoppable!

P.S – Wives, if your reading this take a moment to pray for your husband. He may not show it, but some degree he is weary.

We are not on our own:
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We have the perfect Father to turn to:

One of the most important characteristics of God is that he is our Father. The imagery of God that we see throughout the entire Bible is of a loving, caring, and perfect Father (2nd Sam7:13-14, Mt 7:7-11, Rom 8:15-17). Keep in mind, the fact that he is loving and caring also means that like any good and Godly father he brings correction and discipline (Prov 3:11-12, Prov 13:24). When we feel hopeless, weary, and exhausted, we can and should turn to our heavenly Father. He comforts us in the midst of our pain and tragedy, he sings over us with delight in the midst of our joy and praise (Zeph 3:17).

We have the perfect Father to turn to:
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We have the hope of the Gospel:

To the weary father, live in light of the hope that the Gospel gives us.The hope we have is found in the finished work of Christ. We could never accomplish what he did, and our striving to accomplish what he has already done will only leave us weary and tired. Continue to preach the Gospel to yourself. Remember the hope that you have in Christ and take joy in our adoption as sons of God and co-heirs with Christ. Rest assured in these simple and fundamental truths:

1. God is sovereign regardless of our circumstance
2. We are not on our own
3. We have the perfect Father to turn to
4. Live in light of the hope of the Gospel

We have the hope of the Gospel:
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