Renewal

“He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.” — Psalm 107:35

While our family spent two weeks traveling around the deserts of the U.S. Southwest, it rained nearly every day back in our hometown. June tends to be a wet month where we live, but this year it was exceptionally so. By the time we returned home, our backyard had transformed into a jungle of new growth. Everything lush and thriving. Having spent so many days surrounded by plants and animals eking out survival in a barren landscape, the difference was dramatic.

I find myself wondering which landscape better symbolizes the condition of my soul. Am I surviving or thriving? Barren desert or vibrant garden?

Rather than go down either of my two usual paths: 1) beating myself up for the barrenness I see or 2) frantically searching for someone else to blame instead, I am simply going to accept that I am both. And so are they.

Petrified Forest National Park had the hottest, driest, most inhospitable conditions I have ever experienced. I felt so vulnerable during the time that we spent in the park. The place reminding me of the story that Jesus told of the rich man suffering in Hades, begging Lazarus to come and place a drop of water on his tongue (Luke 16:19-31). I cannot imagine anyone would have ever deemed this landscape worthy of protecting as a national park, without the petrified forest being there.

The petrified trees tell an interesting story. This barren landscape was once a fertile woodland, growing alongside a river. The area experienced periodic flooding which covered fallen tree trunks with layers of sediment. Over time the tree’s organic material was replaced with quartz, which was later brought back to the surface by further erosion.

Thus, this most uncomfortable of parks, conveys a tremendously hopeful message. Deserts are seasonal. Given enough time, rivers will once again run through them.