”God—you’re my God! I can’t get enough of you! I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God,  traveling across dry and weary deserts. So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open, drinking in your strength and glory. In your generous love I am really living at last!  My lips brim praises like fountains. I bless you every time I take a breath; My arms wave like banners of praise to you.” Psalm 63:1-4 (The Message)

We have all experienced seasons of dryness. Times when we were so thirsty, we would have given anything for one drink of cool, clear spiritual water. Times so desperate that we would even welcome it tepid and cloudy.

Because there’s nothing quite as all-consuming as thirst. Cracked lips. Tongues sticking to the roofs of our mouths. Desperately scanning the horizon for relief in the distance.

And then cresting a hill, we see it. Water shimmering between us and the next rise in elevation. We begin to run toward it without caution, only to discover that we cannot reach it. Panic sets in as we realize it is a mirage. We’ve chased them before and know that they will never satisfy us.

But God offers us something else.

Oasis.

Located along a stream or near a spring, it provides water to quench our thirst and vegetation that creates a shady place to rest. It’s a sanctuary, a temporary retreat from the harsh conditions of the journey. Our time here prepares us to move onward, rested and equipped for the next steps on our path.

Questions to Consider:

• When has God provided you with rest and refreshment of oasis?

• When have you turned to something other than God to provide for you and found it to be a mirage?

• How has God been teaching you to discern the difference between oasis and mirage?

Prayer: Spend some time in prayer thanking God for His past faithfulness in being your oasis in times of pain or difficulty. Ask for His continued guidance through His word, presence, and the faith community to clarify oasis from mirage as you journey.