Desert God Time

This post is by Shaina Weisgerber.

I’m nervous to share with you what God time actually looks like for me these days. It doesn’t look anything like I think it should, what I’ve been taught it should, what I would want to post about it looking like. I don’t have a pretty setup on my back patio with fresh plants, a cup of steaming hot coffee or a pretty journal. I don’t have a cozy chair and blanket or a really amazing Bible study I’m going through. (Although, if you need one, there are some amazing studies in the Academy that you should check out)

I’m in a personal season of extreme drought and desert-like circumstances. I’m hesitant to describe to you what God time looks like for me because it truly is so basic it’s almost non-existent. I have nothing beautiful to offer you in terms of God time. I do not have a list of essentials for deep God time.  I know how it looks and feels to just show up, some days barely even showing up. Desert seasons are when God time seems to be the hardest to come by and yet it is certainly the time we need God time the most. 

In Exodus 16 we find the Israelites in the desert. They have seen the hand of God part the seas for them, provide for them and rescue them from slavery in Egypt. You would think their faith was at its peak!  God has now brought them to the desert, though. He instructs Moses as to how he is going to provide for them in the desert and what to do each day with the manna. Each day they are supposed to gather just the amount they need for that day, no more no less. The entire chapter tells us of how God provided for them, even when they whined about there not being meat! God is so kind. 

What this scripture has shown me about my God time in the desert is this: 

He knows exactly what I need. 

Manna translates to “what is it?” I find that so fitting for anyone going through a desert season with the Lord. We don’t know what we need or how much. We don’t know how to pray or what to pray. Nothing seems familiar or comfortable. Our daily time with God may look like listening to the Word of God on an audio Bible, it may look like going through a book of the Bible one verse at a time, or perhaps just writing a scripture on a notecard and reading it daily. 

Lately, I have been doing a “daily check in” with the Lord. I write down the following; if I’ve taken my medication/vitamins, what I’m feeling, how my body feels and any prayers that are on my heart, and I am going through the book of James one verse at a time. I write that daily scripture down and simply ask God to help me filter my life through that one verse for the day. 

This set up isn’t perfect and I have skipped some days here and there. None of this is fancy or earth shattering. It IS fear shattering, it IS doubt shaking, it is keeping me from shriveling up in this desert. Do I feel super joyous or happy right now? No. Do I feel super inspired or invigorated? No. Do I have any answers for this desert season? No. He just simply provides my daily bread and I am trying to obediently gather it daily and utilize it for my well being. 

And that is enough. 

So, to those of you who are weary, living life in a desert season, I am here too. I am with you. I am encouraging you to just receive your daily manna. Let God give you your “what is it” until you reach the Promised Land ahead. He is with you. He is just as much God even when you don’t feel inspired, energetic or even encouraged. He is in the daily mundaneness of gathering your manna. Whether your desert season is a week or forty years, He will provide through it all. 

Shaina Weisgerber is a wife and mom from the Texas Panhandle. She enjoys spending time with her husband Nick and daughters Ava and Ana. She also loves singing, reading, cooking, writing, and helping other women develop their relationship with Christ. Find her at Sycamore & Sparrow on Instagram and Facebook or check out her blog at www.sycamoresparrow.wordpress.com

Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash