Picture a man stranded in the middle of the Sahara Desert.  See him lying there, dehydrated and nearly dead.  Given the choice, would this man choose a bag of gold or a canteen of water?  He may have dreamed about bags of gold in the past, but now he must have water, or he will die. This is one of the benefits of a desert experience.  It forces us to assess our priorities.  What matters most to us?  A growing church?  Being appreciated by our people?  

“O God…my soul thirsts for you…

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

Psalm 63:1

Did you realize that deserts comprise one-third of the earth’s land surface?  That means that for every two acres of good soil, there’s one acre of dry, barren soil on the planet.  That’s a lot of desert. 

I don’t know if the ratio is two-to-one, but I do know that in the pilgrimage of pastoral life, ministers will spend time in the desert.  In the desert, life is hard and even harsh.  In the desert, we feel dry, barren, even forsaken.

Summer ministry life

Summer is an interesting time for pastors. For the average church member, summer means that school is out, which means it’s time for vacations, family reunions, and weekend camping trips. But since people can’t be in two places at the same time, all this traveling influences church life. Attendance often goes down, and along with it, ministry continuity and giving.

I have served in the same local church in Wheelersburg, Ohio, since 1987.  Unlike some places around the country, we experience four distinct seasons in southern Ohio.  We have spring (with the blooming dogwoods), summer (with its stifling humidity), fall (with its colorful leaves on the hardwoods), and winter (with its snow and ice).

From my observation, there is a seasonal aspect to church ministry.  As goes the calendar, so often goes the heart of the pastor.  There is spring with all its new growth and beauty (which we love).  When fall comes, we experience the reward of the harvest (which we also love).  Even winter has its own reward, as the cold forces us to slow down and rest.  But then, there’s the summer.

Summer is often a difficult time for a pastor.  Church life sort of shifts into neutral.  Yes, there may be VBS, a camp for the kids, and a teen missions trip.  All wonderful.  But it’s hard to get traction with people in the summer, with all the traveling and family reunions.  And this can produce discouragement in the heart of the shepherd.

Are you familiar with the phrase “the dog days of summer”?  I grew up on a farm and can still picture our dog trying to find a cool place to rest on a hot August day.  Pastoral ministry can feel like that in the summertime.  Sultry.  Dry.  Desert-like.

Can anything good come out of the desert?

Psalm 63 says yes.  According to the psalm’s heading, Psalm 63 is a psalm of David.  But a particular experience in David’s life provides the backdrop for this psalm.  David wrote it when he was in the desert (NIV; the ESV says wilderness) of Judah.

When did David spend time in the desert?  We know he spent a lot of time there as a young man running from King Saul.  But verse 11 suggests that when David wrote Psalm 63, he was already king.  This may have been when David fled into the desert because his son, Absalom, usurped his throne and sought to kill him (2 Samuel 15:23). 

To have your father-in-law hate and try to kill you (as Saul had done) is one thing.  But to have yourson trying to snuff out your life is unthinkable.  Yet this was David’s situation.  And so this man of God, brokenhearted, left his palace in Jerusalem and fled for his life.  Where did he go?  Into the desert.  What did he do there?  He tells us in Psalm 63.

There are some lessons that we learn best when in the desert.

When we read Psalm 63, we discover that three realities came into clear focus for David while in the desert.  This can happen to us, too, my pastor friend.  When God takes us into a desert-like experience in the summer, He’s giving us the opportunity to gain three vital insights.

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