I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. (Isa. 43:19)
In 2004, Eric LeMarque, former Olympic champion and pro hockey player, was stranded without food, water, or shelter in the High Sierras for eight days. He sought redemption by facing the demons that led to his drug addiction and rediscovered his faith through his ordeal. Recognized as one of the most famous unrelenting survivors in history, today he shares worldwide the message of adversity, hope, perseverance, and spiritual restoration. As LeMarque will attest, faith is not only belief in God’s ongoing work on our behalf, but also proof of his pledge to us. Countless lives have been changed through his redemptive work—from illness to addiction to protection.
Likewise, God led his people out of captivity in Babylon. The way led through a difficult desert, yet God promised to make a way in the wilderness, protecting, comforting, and caring for his people. As he turned the sea into dry land in the flight from Egypt, he brought refreshment in the desert the people traversed on the way to Canaan, the promised land.
As God led Eric and the Israelites through unrelenting circumstances, he makes the way for us in hard places by effusing his Spirit on our lives. God plans our ways and then leads us through the deserts of our lives. He redeems us from our human ignorance and unfruitfulness by blessing us with his divine comfort and direction.
Share with others how God has made a way for you.
Susan Gordon lives in Wadsworth, Ohio, where she enjoys serving in local organizations, biking, kayaking, exercising, and spending retirement making memories with her husband and grandchildren.
© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
