Well-Watered Garden

Isaiah 58:11 (NIV)

The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

Today’s verse is full of promise and hope. More than ever before in my life, I’ve found God’s promises to be true in the midst of a storm or a sun-scorched land. Max Lucado reminds us; “We never expected to see Jesus in a divorce, death, lawsuit, or jail cell. We never expected to see him in a storm. But it is in the storms he does his finest work, for it is in storms he has our keenest attention.”

My dear friend Brenda has discovered God’s presence in her sun-scorched land. In 2021, a few months after her mother died, she was diagnosed with acute leukemia. She began her journey at her local hospital receiving chemo then was referred out at City of Hope in Duarte, California, a 2-hour drive from her home. It was here she spent over 100 days receiving a bone marrow transplant from her older brother. Amidst her treatment, her sister died suddenly.

During the painful, grief-filled, unknown journey, Brenda clung to hope. We chatted on the phone every Tuesday, crying, praying, and lamenting. A year later, Brenda is no longer in the sun-scorched land. Earlier this month, she received the news that her stem cell transplant is 100 percent engrafted and she shows no sign of cancer. Like a well-watered garden, she is now flourishing.

In reflecting on the first part of this verse in Isaiah is the promise of God’s guidance, direction, and leading us wherever we are; in a dry place, in a desolate space, in a place with no signs of growth or life. Here is where God comes to satisfy us. He starts in a place that we don’t want to be. It’s where He can do His work, providing, protecting, and producing yet unseen results, as we wait and trust Him.

In that dark, dry place is where we can be strengthened by His presence, His promises, and prayer.  

From the place that looks hopeless comes a well-watered garden showing signs of life. It’s where the Lord has watered our souls as we’ve waited, walked, and remained dependent on Him during the storm. 

Thriving doesn’t come when life is going well. Out of the parched places we are growing into a well-watered garden.  

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for the promise that You will always lead us, satisfy us, and strengthen us.  Give us peace as we trust You in the parched places.  Help us as we cling to You, tightly holding on to hope. Thank you for the promise of your presence.  In Jesus Name, Amen.