Mecca Meanderings

15 Feb 2012 1 Comment

by Pam Ford Davis in Devotions, Spiritual Growth Tags: desert, Devotionals, Faithwriters, Innerfulfillment, Pam Ford Davis, Pam's Tea and Testimonies, Tea Pot Testimony

I lived in the Southern California desert. Don’t pity me; desert areas are dry and temperatures do soar into three digit readings but you find so much to outweigh disadvantages. Coachella Valley has bountiful vegetable and citrus crops and the city of Indio is famous for fruit filled date palms. As for Mecca, where we lived, it had little to offer.

I have experienced dryness within my soul, have meandered in my Mecca desert and suffered with extreme thirst and dehydration. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:19 NIV).”

God has provided a way for me in spiritual desert droughts. I found the path in pages of His holy word. I have learned through experience that not only can looks be deceiving but names of places too. Oasis, not far from Mecca did not live up to images of Utopia. On the other hand, Salton Sea on the San Andreas Fault far exceeds expectations for a desert body of water.

The Lord waits eagerly to do new things in, for and through me. He uses the desert as a backdrop, adds His living water, floods it with light from the Son and produces fertile valleys. I can flourish, grow as a Christian and attract others to His kingdom. An uplifted heart is a thing of beauty and as much a part of God’s creation as swaying palms!