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The desert: A place of romance


The desert: A place of romance 

At church a few Sundays ago, to illustrate a point, the pastor described the desert as being “a place of romance.” That symbolism caught my ear (not that I wasn’t listening before…) and piqued my interest, because in the Bible the desert is usually referred to as a place of punishment – for less than stellar leadership, impending judgment, failing to believe the promises of God, and even where Jesus was tempted by the devil for 40 days. But, romance? Not so much. The pastor’s point, however, was that the desert is a place with no distractions to get in the way of worshipping and spending quiet time with God without being pulled in all the directions our normal daily lives pull us. A place to be still.

In our fast-paced, tech-savvy, impulse-driven, keep-up-with-the-Joneses world, where do we go for peace and quiet? For reflection, tranquility, for letting God romance us by allowing ourselves to spend time with Him without distractions? And if letting God romance you is a foreign concept, this doesn’t have to be in that light; it’s helpful even in the secular world. The desert being a place of romance is great symbolism for reconnecting with what is important, focusing on something outside of ourselves, the daily grind, the rat race to the “top,” the constant distractions that pull us a million different ways and leave us feeling deflated not accomplished.

Many of us probably don’t even know how to spend time in the proverbial desert. “You mean, put my phone away for a WHOLE DAY? How about an hour,” we negotiate. And that’s pushing it, right?? “Can it be while I’m sleeping??” What exactly is it that we fear facing if all distractions are removed? If we are alone with our ourselves and our own thoughts, or even with an important person in our lives, but free of all other distractions? (Put your phone down on date nights, seriously.) If there is pushback to either of these scenarios, why? We probably have all, at one time or another, said we wished we just had a day to ourselves, or an uninterrupted hour with our favorite person, or just a chance to be still and quiet and NOT. BUSY. But we don’t set time aside for that. So, do we really want it? We set aside time for working, for parenting, for cooking and cleaning the house and mowing the lawn and going out to eat with friends and watching a game and and and… If we truly MEANT that we wanted time for just being still and alone with our own thoughts, or with God, or with another person with no distractions, wouldn’t we actually DO it?

Are you willing to examine why you can’t be left alone to your own thoughts? Most likely facing that answer, whatever it is, on your own time in your own choosing, would improve your life overall. Would you rather face that “thing” when forced to when some calamity hits and you have no other options but to do so? Similar to fighting demons (for all you fellow horror movie lovers out there), knowing its name gives you power over it. Why is stripping away all distractions and just being alone with yourself terrifying? I urge you to find out. Sit with it and ask it its name. Get counseling, if you need to, for past trauma. Get it again. As many times as needed. Take your power back. You are so worth it.

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