December 13

Flourishing in the Desert

For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing (Nehemiah 9:21).

Scripture: Nehemiah 9:16-21

Song: “God Will Take Care of You”

The world’s largest natural flower garden flourishes in an unlikely place: a desert. The Dubai Miracle Garden boasts some 100 million blooms, planted across more than 18 acres. In 2016, it even claimed the Guinness World Record for the largest flower arrangement.

This desert oasis survives under such forbidding conditions because of an innovative underground drip irrigation system that recycles waste water and channels it directly to the plants’ roots. This mitigates the effects of evaporation and greatly reduces the amount of water needed to sustain the garden.

Marvelous as it may be, however, this ecological “miracle” pales in comparison to the miracle that sustained the Israelites during their 40-year sojourn in the desert wilderness. The Bible says God provided everything they needed—food and water, guidance and protection. Their clothes never wore out, and their feet never became swollen. They lacked nothing.

If God is willing to supernaturally preserve His people even after their stiff-necked disobedience, how much more will He preserve us in the “deserts” of our daily challenges? As Christians, we know we’re not alone in our struggles. God has promised to care for us just as prodigiously as He cares for the birds of the air and the grass of the field—if we’re willing to trust Him.

Properly directed, our faith functions like the unseen irrigation channels nourishing the unlikely blossoms in Dubai. It allows us to flourish beautifully, even under the most forbidding of circumstances.

Father, You are so good to me. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.