In Desert Places, God is Close to the Broken Hearted

A broken-hearted woman cries, "I'm a widow. A few years ago my husband passed away. I miss my husband so much. The loneliness is unbearable. When I play music or pray or talk on the phone I seem to gain strength. Thanks for calling me." 

We hear the pain in her voice and the loneliness that other widows have experienced down through the centuries. During Sukkot or The Feast of Tabernacles, I'm pausing to consider the lives of millions who passed through very tough times after gaining their freedom from slavery in Egypt. Today is the fourth day of this Feast.

I try to imagine women in the wilderness. I hear wailing because a husband lost his life. Perhaps from thirst while caring for the animals. Or during a drought. Pestilence, serpents, famine, and plague took lives as well. Enemies killed soldiers and left families bereft. Is that her voice I hear? "Who would help me move our tent? How will I take care of the children and the animals? Can my little children go out on their own and collect the manna? Who will bring me water?"

In the desert experiences of life, Isaiah, whose voice still thunders down through the ages, brings great comfort.

 "The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir, and the cypress together. so that people may see and know, may consider and understand that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it." Isaiah 41:17-20 

I love the olive tree. You trim its branches every seven years, but the olive tree comes right back. It continues, year after year, century after century, to give forth fruit and life. 

Friends, if you know a widow during this time who has suffered the loss of her husband, please take the time to reach out. Send a card, make a phone call, or use some meaningful way to bring her comfort. God still has much for her. His promises are ever sure!