promises of deliverance

What is your desert?

Psalm 107: 4, 6-7, 9

Some wandered in desert wastes,

finding no way to an inhabited town; 

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress; 

he led them by a straight way,

until they reached an inhabited town.

For he satisfies the thirsty,

and the hungry he fills with good things.

I think for a lot of people, especially people who are on the margins, our experience of religious communities can make us feel isolated, as if we are wandering in desert wastes. Meanwhile, the Bible is full of texts that hold promises of deliverance often feel disingenuous or even impossible.

Let us build a community that reflects this promise, may we be the vehicles for God to fulfill their promise around us. Where do you distress? How might you satisfy the thirsty?

What is your desert? What is the cry to the Lord? How might we build community that shows up for you?

—Theo Isoz