The Desert Experience: Shade in the Desert
The Lord is the shade at your right hand”
(Psalm 121:5)
God provided shade from the heat for His people during the wilderness wanderings. Shade in the desert is a great relief, particularly during the summer months when temperatures can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit and higher. Even the shade of a small scrub can make the difference between living and dying.
In our desert walk, God gives just enough shade to keep us going. Not an all-encompassing shade -just a little bit of shade along the way – one more day, one more step. When you are in the “desert” look for a metaphorical tree that represents the presence and the sustaining power of God.
There are different trees in the desert, all of which have lessons that we can learn from and apply to our Christian walk.
The white broom tree (scientific name: Retama raetam: translated as “juniper” in the King James version of the Bible) is common in Middle Eastern deserts, and unlike many other desert shrubs, it remains green throughout the year. It grows to about six feet tall and can be up to ten feet wide, and it provides light shade that filters sunlight just enough to make the heat tolerable. Often it is the only shade available in the deep desert.
Exhausted, depressed, and frightened, it was under a broom tree that Elijah sought shelter in his flight from Jezebel (1 Kings 19).
Another tree in the desert which provides a lesson on how to survive a desert experience is the Acacia tree. Acacia trees grow in the dry wadis. They send deep roots into the ground so that they can withstand the onslaught of a wadi flood. Those same deep roots enable them to survive in times of drought when the wadi does not flood as they can reach water deep underground. Our dedicated study of the Word should be our “acacia roots” that help us stand when trouble comes.
Josephy Bayly, the Christian author said it best, “don’t forget in the dark (in the desert – my paraphrase), what you learned in the light.” Study the Word, hide it deep in your heart and you will be able to withstand flood and drought when they come, and more importantly, bear fruit in its season.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8).
The Lord will be your shade as you walk through life.
