John the Baptist calls us into the desert. We much prefer avoiding the deserts of our lives. If we had our ‘druthers, we wouldn’t be full of doubt. Sure God, it’s easy for you because “one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day” but I don’t have that long. What am I supposed to do? How is my family supposed to live? Why is it so hard to know what you want me to do? If we had our ‘druthers, we wouldn’t have occasions of fear. We’re afraid about our health, about our financial situation, about the way the world is going, about the future. If we had our ‘druthers, we wouldn’t have to grieve. All of our loved ones would stay with us always. We’d never have to say good-bye. We’d remain happily together forever. Those kind of desert experiences plunge us into a wasteland of discouragement. Or, the Baptist demonstrates, they can be the opportunity to prepare the way of the Lord. When life has not been kind, we learn that the satisfactions provided by this world no longer work. Instead we must live “waiting for and hastening the coming day of God.”
