With Us in the Wilderness

Have you ever traveled through a desert? Deserts are surprisingly diverse. We might picture a sandy, hot place, but some deserts are snowy and cold, like the polar desert of Antarctica. Likewise, deserts can be small rather than stereotypically vast. Despite their variety, they hold one thing in common: all deserts are dry. And traveling through a desert leaves us dried up, thirsty, and parched.

Our life’s circumstances can be diverse too. Life might be wonderful, and it can be filled with excitement and new possibilities. But, as many of us have experienced in 2020, life can also have setbacks and struggles. Often our lives have felt more like a desert than a place of abundant living.

The book of Numbers can help us with that. Did you know that the original Hebrew name for this book is “In the Desert”? Numbers tells the story of Israel’s time in the desert wilderness, as they wandered for forty years before entering the land God had promised them. That period in their lives was often difficult, but it supplied many lessons for building up their faith. And the biggest lesson was that God was with them all along the way.

This month’s author, Tom Groelsema, and his wife, Sheri, have served churches in Minnesota, Michigan, and North Carolina. They have four children and three granddaughters.

Whether you’re in a season of plenty or want, we pray that these reflections will be a blessing to you. As you read the Today devotions this month, may you be refreshed, refocused, and renewed in God’s Word.

Begin with day one of "With Us in the Wilderness" here or download the full PDF.