Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. Jeremiah 32:17
The inhospitable character of the desert environment is frequently used in Scripture to emphasize people’s need to rely upon God’s sovereign grace for everything that sustains them. It was a common testing ground of the Israelites’ faith, as seen in Moses’ reminder of their desert wanderings in Deuteronomy 8:3: “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Jesus Himself used this very passage when He was tempted by Satan in the desert.
I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. Isaiah 41:18, niv
Covering approximately 20 percent of the earth’s land surface, deserts vary greatly in appearance, as shown in these photographs of Monument Valley and the northern Great Basin. This is because their defining characteristic is not their physical makeup but a chronic lack of water. Some deserts, like Chile’s Atacama, have never even had a recorded rainfall. As a result of this dryness, deserts are unable to support the abundance of plant life found in wetter climates, and individual plants tend to be widely scattered to compete for the limited supply of water, which is often deep below the surface. The roots of west Texas mesquite trees sometimes reach down more than 250 feet. The Sahara, in northern Africa, is the world’s largest desert, covering an area that is almost as large as the United States. All the deserts in North America would take up less than 15 percent of the Sahara.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11, niv
The improbable sight of wildflowers blooming in the desert is a good reminder of the biblical truth that God controls everything in our lives according to His perfect wisdom, knowledge, and love. While it may sometimes seem we are stranded in the middle of a spiritual desert, far removed from God, we are graciously given the hope and power to persevere in our faith by the certain promise of Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (niv).
He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. Psalm 33:9
Photo Locations: 1. Monument Valley from Hunt’s Mesa, Arizona; 2. Sunset aerial, Monument Valley, Utah; 3. Desert Bloom, Southeast Oregon; 4. Evening Primrose, Sonoran Desert, California; 5. Painted Hills, Oregon; 6. Sunset, Grand Canyon, Arizona