The desert can be a starkly beautiful place. Its landscape is the epitome of drama, and the hardy plants and animals that survive in it testify to the resilience of life.
But, especially for us thirsty humans, the desert is also a place of fear and death. Its temperatures are brutal and extreme; the heat that sears unbearably through the day flees quickly at night. This place lacks water, and, by extension, food. It is not an easy place for people to flourish.
I grew up in Southern California, and, despite living through a historic drought, I never feared that we would go hungry or thirsty. However, I did deeply fear the fires spurred by drought, as well as the landslides that came after rare, heavy rains.
You see, plants with deep roots hold the hills together through downpours, but these plants die in drought. When water finally comes, the earth tumbles down. A dry hill is not resilient.
Today’s passage from Isaiah speaks of a desert refreshed: “…the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and shouting” (35:1-2). And further, “the burning sand shall become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water…the grass shall become reeds and rushes” (v 7).
This water comes not from without but from within, welling up from beneath the surface. Plant life will flourish and put down deep roots. Hunger and thirst will be replaced by abundance; the fear that comes with scarcity will be replaced by joy.
Resilience has become a buzzword in our modern world. We (rightly) discuss the need for climate resilience in vulnerable communities, such as those threatened by sea level rise and rising temperatures. We read up on how to raise resilient children, ones who can withstand the challenges of life.
And indeed, resilience is an admirable trait. But can we create it by sheer force of will? Isaiah calls, “Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear!’” (vv 3-4). But is it that easy? Whence come such strength and courage? Isaiah has the answer:
Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you. (v 4)
What we need as human beings is not only resilience, but redemption. The springs of water in the deserts of our lives do not come from external sources like wealth or accolades—indeed, such transient rains can make us vulnerable to a downward slide. But this living water also doesn’t come from our own grit and determination. It comes from our Savior, who dwells among and within us all.
In this passage, Isaiah is speaking to a people who have survived war. At the time this prophecy is given—by someone in the prophet Isaiah’s tradition, but likely not the man himself—many Israelites are in exile. They have been uprooted from their home.
But God will create a safe passageway for the “redeemed” (v 9); they will be delivered through the desert like the Hebrews out of Egypt. One day, says the prophet, “…the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing” (v 10). God’s people are resilient not through their own efforts, but through the mighty acts of God.
Jeremiah, another prophet who experiences the agony of exile, gives this famous image of resilience through God:
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit. (17:7-8)
And Jesus, in John 7, proclaims,
Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ (vv 37-38)
These are images of abundance and fearlessness that come not from merit but from faith, from redemption. Advent is the promise that such redemption both has come and is yet still coming. We have access to deep, sustaining reservoirs even now—and one day, the whole earth will be refreshed.
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