| Do you ever have one of those days, or weeks (or months?) when it seems like God isn't around? When it seems He's gone on vacation while you've been hitting the rough times?
When my husband voluntarily stepped out of his pastoral job for an unpaid "one-year sabbatical" (that was his term for it), I began to wonder if after eight months God had gone on a permanent coffee break.
God, he's restless to get back into ministry. Where are You? 
God, we can't keep paying for our own health insurance. Aren't You taking note of this?
Lord, we need You to intervene...any time now!
Yet, God wanted to take us to the edge of desperation -- where we truly needed Him -- and there He reminded us that He's been right there with us, all along.
Through the years I've learned that God has a way of drawing us out to the desert of need (or should I say the desert of desperation?) in order to teach us some things about Himself.
In the early years of my marriage, I learned that my husband couldn't possibly meet all my emotional expectations and I had to look to God to be my "Spiritual Husband" (Isaiah 54:5).
In the early years of my husband's first ministry, we didn't have much money, and I learned to depend on God as my Provider and take Him at His Word when He says He will supply all my needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). Throughout the past few years of parenting a teenager, I've had to look to God to be my Wisdom, my Source of Strength, and my Counselor.
And just recently -- as I waited for God to move during a time in which my husband and I seemed to be standing still financially, emotionally, and in ministry -- I had to look to God to be my Future, my Hope and my Direction.
God knows that if I have everything I want, right when I want it, then I no longer need Him. And I'm not truly desperate for Him. So at times, He will lead me to a desert where I realize, again, how very much I need Him. What desert might God be allowing you to walk through right now so He can show you a new side of Himself? Could He be taking you through a desert in your marriage, so you will see Him as your "spiritual husband"? Could He be allowing you a trek through the desert of financial hardships so you will see Him as your Great Provider? Is He leading you through a desert of loss so you will see Him as your Greatest Possession?
Don't fight those times in the desert. Embrace them, instead. And let God draw you to His side so you will depend on Him more. So you will love Him and trust Him more. So you will become truly desperate for Him.
From Cindi's newest book "When Women Walk Alone: A 31-Day Devotional Companion." For more on this new release, or to order your copy at a discounted price, click HERE.
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