Psalm 63:1–You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

Luke 4:1, 14–And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil…And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

One time I had a vision. I was walking in this great desert. The heat was pounding down on my head. Everywhere I looked I saw sand scorching under the sun’s great heat. I walked and walked for what seemed to be hours on end. I was growing weary but then I saw a turn come in the road. I praised the Lord because I thought that my walk in the desert was over. But when I made the turn it was the same thing all over again. I walked and walked in the desert. I was thirsty, sweaty, hungry and tired.

I walked again for what seemed to be even more hours and then I got weary and angry. I cried out to God in the vision. I screamed at the top of my lungs, “How much longer my God? How much further do I have to go?”

As soon as I cried out this way I heard a voice cry back to me. He said, “five more minutes.” Well, I have to be honest with you I was not prepared for such a trite answer. I thought God was mocking me. How could he consider my time in this forsaken desert in such a flippant way.

But then I saw it. There was a break on the horizon. I saw a giant bridge that spanned across an arm of the ocean. I felt refreshed just looking at this bridge. It was my road to a new place. God had provided me with the answer as quickly as he said he would.

I really believe that the desert experience is about God purging us of the old man. He brings us there so that he can kill that old sinful and impure fellow. I have come to love the desert. Not because it is such a wonderful place to be but because of who I become when I get to the other side. I become stronger and I am able to carry more of his glory and blessing in my life. I now cry out and ask God to take me there so that I will become more like him in my ways.

Do not try to escape the desert. Stay there and let God do his work in your life. Cry out for deliverance and in due time it will come your way.