The rented condo where Kyle and I have been staying this month is in Huntington Beach, close to our son’s family. It’s also a short walk to the Bolsa Chica Nature Reserve, which includes several miles of hiking paths through a saltwater estuary. Picture a desert landscape with a scattering of ponds. The trail through the reserve is gravel, and runs alongside a stretch of gorgeous homes. You can see the ocean and mountains in the distance. It’s very cool.
Kyle and I explored the Bolsa Chica trail early in our stay, and I immediately decided it would be the perfect place for my daily run. The first time I ran it I came back giddy with my good fortune, audibly thanking God for such a blessing, and looking forward to doing it again and again. And then, the next evening, Kyle and I were taking a walk when we encountered a bit of a surprise. We had just come to a trail access, and standing a few feet away from us was a coyote. It didn’t follow us, but it was a tad unsettling. After enjoying our dinner on the harbor, and watching the sunset, Kyle and I decided against walking on the trail at dusk, and opted instead for the lighted neighborhood.
The next day we were watching football at our son’s apartment, along with a couple of their friends. I mentioned the coyote, and Nils' buddy piped up, “Yeah. I saw a rattlesnake on that trail once, too.”
Now mind you. This is hardly an untraveled path. Lots of people use it daily. People walking dogs and pushing strollers. Runners, like me. And yet, the thought of encountering coyotes and rattlesnakes certainly made me less giddy and a bit more cautious.
Coincidentally, or maybe not, the Scripture I've been memorizing during our month away is all about dry deserts, pools of water, and a path through the wilderness. It’s a prophetic poem penned by Isaiah. Here’s a bit of it…
The wilderness and the dry land will be glad;
the desert will rejoice and blossom like a wildflower.
It will blossom abundantly
and will also rejoice with joy and singing.
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then the lame will leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy,
for water will gush in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the parched ground will become a pool,
and the thirsty land, springs.
A road will be there and a way;
it will be called the Holy Way.
The unclean will not travel on it,
but it will be for the one who walks the path.
Fools will not wander on it.
There will be no lion there,
and no vicious beast will go up on it;
they will not be found there.
But the redeemed will walk on it,
and the ransomed of the Lord will return
and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.
(Isaiah 35:1-2b; 5-10)
Talk about a real life word picture!
In Isaiah’s prophecy the desert and the wilderness represent the hardship and frustration of life in exile—long years of waiting in the wilderness. But the imagery of blooming gardens represents an Eden Paradise… or life with God. Living water is one of the primary metaphors used throughout Scripture for the Holy Spirit, and Spirit-filled people are those who flourish and bear fruit like trees in a garden.
I’ve spent a lot of time this month pondering these word pictures and their meaning. I believe we, as followers of Jesus, live between these two realities. We are, in a sense, exiles living in a wilderness that’s not our real home. We are WAITING. At the same time, we’re “garden people”—experiencing the new creation life made possible through Jesus’ death and resurrection. We bring the kingdom of heaven to earth through our own Spirit-filled flourishing lives.
One day we’ll walk… neigh, we will skip and dance and sing… leaping like deer with the unending joy that OVERTAKES US. In the meantime we are those who bring a taste of such joy to our own deserts. We are flowers blooming in dry places… springs of water in a thirsty land.
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