Building A Life In The Desert
By: Kristen L. McNulty
Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.
The desert is a place where the sun beats relentlessly on the land, and the dry winds blow unrestricted throughout the empty landscape. Sparse vegetation dots the landscape, and the ground is cracked, parched, longing for a drop of rain. In the desert, nothing is easy—life is hard, and survival is a daily battle. And yet, this is often the place where God calls His people to dwell.
Life in the desert comes in many forms. Sometimes it's a season of hardship, a period of waiting, or an unexpected turn of events that leaves us feeling as though we are stranded in the middle of nowhere. It's the place where dreams seem to wither, where plans unravel, and where we find ourselves longing for something different—a "promised land" we can't quite see but want desperately to get to.
The desert is a place where our faith is tested when we discover that following Jesus doesn't guarantee a pain-free existence and sometimes even those who obey God find themselves in a desolate place not of their own choosing.
The Weight of Waiting In The Desert
If you've ever found yourself in a season where the life you're living isn't the one you expected, you know the weight of waiting in the desert. So often though, we view the desert like we would a waiting room. It's a temporary place to reside for a short wait, a place where we scroll on our phones to pass the time, but never a place we would settle into or build a life in. But if my life as a Christian has taught me anything, it's that deserts are not waiting rooms with a guaranteed short wait time attached to them. Deserts can be places we reside for weeks, months, years, sometimes even decades. And if that's the case, if the desert is somewhere God has planted us long term, then the desert is also the place where we should put down roots.
So often we fight the desert experience, hoping it's a place we camp short term in a tent while we are on our way to the promised land just around the corner. But none of us know how long our times in the desert will last, only God does. And what if God's invitation in the desert isn't just about survival or waiting it out? What if it's about building something meaningful right where you are?
Blooming Where You Are Planted
Many self-help authors today talk about the need to bloom where you are planted, but that idea actually comes from a command given to Christians by Saint Francis de Sales, a believer from the 1500's. Francis wrote:
"Truly charity has no limit; for the love of God has been poured into our hearts by His Spirit dwelling in each one of us, calling us to a life of devotion and inviting us to bloom in the garden where He has planted and directing us to radiate the beauty and spread the fragrance of His Providence."
The 2025 translation of that might read:
"Love knows no boundaries because God's Spirit fills our hearts like a never-ending stream. He calls us to a life of devotion, planting us in situations where we are meant to grow, thrive, and reflect His light. As we bloom where we are planted, we spread the sweet fragrance of His care and kindness, bringing His light to the world around us."
So what if instead of staking down a temporary tent while we sit dormant, trying to wait God out, we accepted our place in the desert as less of a place to wait and more of a place to live and thrive? Because if God has called us to the desert, then doesn't that also mean we can find purpose and life even in that place?
The Example of Abraham
Abraham is an example of someone who faced life in the desert, both literally and metaphorically. God promised Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation, but Abraham's journey was full of years of waiting and wandering—decades in fact—before he saw the first signs of the fulfillment of that promise. He wandered from place to place, away from home and in unfamiliar lands, yet God continued to call him to build, to trust, and to obey every step of the way.
Abraham could have anchored his feet to the ground, demanding God bring about the plans Abraham had for his life in that place, but he didn't. Instead he obeyed God and lived out a faith that trusted in God's purpose even when Abraham couldn't see what that purpose was. Abraham followed God where He led, even if it was far from home, in a place he wouldn't have called his own.
Building A Life In The Desert
So, what does it look like to build a life in the desert, when you're not yet where you want to be but you know you are where God has placed you? The truth is, none of us are called to go into hibernation if we aren't in a place we want to be. Whether we are in the desert due to illness, financial difficulty, the loss of a loved one, the break up of a relationship, the death of a dream, or the change in plans you didn't expect, instead of viewing the desert as a waiting room, put down roots and build a beautiful life even in this place.
Because when the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:1,
"Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. "
He doesn't say that command applies only when we feel like it or only when life turns out the way we expected.
Putting It Into Practice
So what does that look like? What does it mean to live a life worthy of our calling, even in the deserts of life?
It means putting your head down and working hard at a job that isn't your dream job or one you would have chosen for yourself, trusting you are there for a reason and you can use this opportunity to be a light for Christ in your workplace (Matthew 5:16).
It means not envying or chasing after the material possessions you don't have and being thankful for what you do, all the while trusting God as your provider (Philippians 4:19).
It means instead of questioning your singleness, trusting God with your relationship status and investing yourself fully into the church and ministry, knowing you have a purpose to fulfill and because you are single, you have the time to fulfill that purpose you might not have if you were already married with kids (1 Corinthians 7:32-35).
It means taking our eyes off of the horizon, hoping to spot a different promised land we can move over to and instead embracing this desert as our promised land, truly the place where God has called us to and the place where He promises to meet us.
The same God who put Noah and his family alone on a boat while the world around them was destroyed and the same God who allowed Joseph to take up residence in a jail cell even when he was innocent has plans for my life and yours that might not fit our vision of our future, but we can know and trust His plans are good. Closing with a perspective on trusting God from Jeremiah 17:7-8,
"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit."
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