May God Stand On Horeb

A lovely (powerful) freeing thought came out of an early morning devotion. I had been praying about the men John encountered last Sunday (he preached in jail on his birthday) and how he said some were so open to God and others so hardened. This scripture came to mind:

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord... at the presence of the God of Jacob, Who turned the hard rock into a pool of water...and flint-stone into a flowing spring. Psalm 114

Israel was wandering in the desert and in need of water and complaining. To make a long story short, God said he would stand on Horeb and provide water. He did just that. Out of a rock came a flowing stream.

Horeb (The Mountain of God) comes from a root word meaning dryness and desolation. I have Horeb in my life on occasion. Sometimes Horeb occupies more territory than others. The relief is the same. God will stand in the very place where nothing can live and surprise me with a miracle.

Wherever we have a hard dry place inside of us or in front of us, He is able and willing to make flint-stone into a flowing stream. Jail hardened, life hardened souls can be transformed. So can we. The hard way of cancer, divorce, loss and bitterness, every dusty, empty day is looking for God to stand in its middle and be the God of Horeb.

Pour forth, O God, into our expectant and needy lives, make the dry places bloom for your Glory. We give this day, this season, into your capable hands.