Engedi: Oasis In The Desert

Engedi-Oasis In The Desert

I Samuel 23:28,29 Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines; therefore they called that place Se-la-ham-mah-le-koth [29]and David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at En-gedi.

I still remember ever so strongly how I felt the night I received God's Spirit in my heart. I was totally changed. Being in His Presence was the most awesome feeling that I had ever experienced. My whole outlook on life was totally changed. I was so on fire and was ready to go change the world. Well, needless to say, that feeling did not last.

I remember another event that happened in my life that was NOT as pleasing and that was the first time I experienced a dry time. I was attending Bible College at the time. It seemed that no matter how much I read His Word and tried to pray, the dead dry barren feeling was there and I could not feel anything. It was a very difficult time for me, but I had learned that one of God's promises was that He would never leave me nor forsake me. It is very important that we hide God's Word in our hearts because there will be dry times like these and we need His Word to stand upon. I knew that this time that had come upon me was a time when I needed to pass through my desert.

This desert we find ourselves in sometimes can be a dry barren uncultivated region without inhabitants, feeling all alone. The way can be hot, sandy, and rough and very little water. There is no way we can make it on our own, in this desert. We need that Living Water, Jesus Christ. He is that Oasis, that fertile place that welcomes relief from difficult times.

Engedi was a refreshing green spot in the barren desert which lies in a deep narrow valley. This is where David hid out when pursued by King Saul. It was a perfect place to hide, concealed in a narrow ravine.

We need to have an Engedi, a place to hide out in, for time of worship to become refreshed. Life can be a wilderness. The heat of difficult circumstances; the barrenness of failure, loss and hurt; the thirst of unsatisfied needs are like being lost in the desert. But Jesus is the shade and thirst-quenching water. He is the Rock from which streams of water flow to make the desert bloom.

Unfortunately, many times our tendency is to rely on self instead of God, so we turn away from the refreshing streams He offers us and we dig our own cisterns that soon fill up with dirty stagnant water.

Jeremiah 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

I have heard it said: To look around is to be distressed; to look within is to be depressed; to look up is to be blessed. We need to quit looking around at the difficult circumstances going on around us and stop looking to self for the answers. Instead we need to look to Jesus who is the Living Water and ALL we need.

We need to remember where to go when our soul gets dry and thirsty. Will our distress drive us to despair and discouragement or to God? When you find yourself in the desert, before you head off in any old direction seeking for something to quench your thirst, first ask yourself, "Will this satisfy my soul?"

Where do YOU go where you're thirsty and dry?

May we, like David, in our desert times, find shade and thirst-quenching Water in the Lord our God.

Connie J. Schmoll

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