An Oasis in The Desert

Life is full of surprises, and they are sometimes unpleasant. Our plans for life can go astray, in fact things rarely go the way they are planned. This was so for Larry Walter who was a truck driver that lived in the suburbs of Los Angeles. In 1982 Larry had a bright idea. He had always wanted to go into the air force but was rejected because of his eyesight. So, one day he went to the local army surplus store and bought 45 weather balloons and several tanks of helium.

He strapped the balloons to a sturdy lawn chair and then anchored the chair to the bumper of his Jeep. He then proceeded to inflate the balloons. He packed several sandwiches, a 6 pack and a pellet gun. The idea of the gun was that when he wanted to descend, he would pop the balloons with pellets.

Larry’s plan was that he would lazily float 10 or 20 metres above his backyard and come back down a few hours later. However, things did not work out that way. When he cut the cord that was serving as an anchor, he streaked into the Los Angeles sky as if shot by a cannon. Ascending at over 1,000 metres per minute he didn’t level out at 20 Metres but 6,000.! Now he was too scared to start popping balloons, therefore he decided to just stay put. He was now very cold and frightened. For 14 hours he hung there, eventually drifting into the approach of LA International airport. Larry was spotted by pilots of jumbo jets who radioed the tower describing how they were passing a guy in a lawn chair with a gun. Radar confirmed the existence of a floating object 6,000 metres above the airport. LA emergency was put on full alert. A helicopter was dispatched.

An offshore breeze began to carry Larry out to sea. The helicopter hovered several metres above Larry and lowered a rescue line. He snagged the line and was dragged back to shore. As soon as he was hauled back to earth (after hitting power lines and causing a blackout,) Larry was arrested by waiting members of the LAPD for violating LA air space. The chair Larry used is now in the National Air and Space Museum. If you want to read the full story Google “Lawn Chair Larry.”

We also can find ourselves in helpless surprissing situations that come our way from time to time. This was certainly the case for Hagar. Things had been good and her plans for the future seemed promising. But now she found herself alone with her young son in the hot, dry desert of Beersheba. She tilted her water skin to her mouth and took one last sip and then handed the skin to her son Ishmael and told him to drink the rest. Together they squinted in the noonday sun. Both knew what was going to happen; vultures were already circling! You can read the full story in Genesis 21. It is one of the stories to which I say to myself, “I wish God had not done that!” For me it is one of the why’s of scripture – but of course what do I know of the mind and sovereignty of God?

For several years Hagar had been happy. She had been the handmaid to the wife of the richest man around, and she had given birth to the son of the boss! It had all begun with the promise that God had made to Abraham of him becoming a great nation, that he would dwell in the land promised, and that all the earth would be blessed through his offspring.

Not bearing the thought of seeing her son die, Hagar helped the delirious child into the shade of a desert bush and went off some distance to pray and cry. God sent an angel who said, “Don’t be afraid.” He promised Ishmael would live and showed her a well and an oasis in the desert. Yes, God’s blessings are all around us, but often we can’t see them.

In my life I have been through several spiritual deserts; times of loneliness, discouragement, and spiritual barrenness. Our world is a desert and people know it. They sense that our world is a barren and lonely place. But they don’t necessarily know that they are lost from God and facing a judgment that they are unprepared for.

The media describes with distinct accuracy the desert we live in. Paul described it to Timothy in 2 Tim 3:1-5. The third world seems plagued with hopelessness. Even we in Australia, who seem to have the best end of the stick, sometimes don’t know where to turn amidst our social problems and the many friendless, homeless, helpless, and hopeless people.

Everybody seeks the oasis! A place where peace reigns and problems don’t exist. The difference between those who have found the oasis and those who haven’t is knowing where to look. It is not in money (Eccl 5:10). Money won’t buy you happiness, it just helps you be miserable in a better part of town. The oasis is not in bigger or better homes, cars, boats, or holidays. The oasis is not in illicit romances. It is not in power, thrills, danger. (See Proverbs 14:12 and 4:23). The idea that things can satisfy is a 6,000-year-old swindle. It would be like feeding the New Testament to a horse and expecting the animal to be satisfied. Likewise, feeding the world to the human heart and expecting satisfaction is just as ludicrous.

Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself O God, and we are restless till we find our rest in you.” To set one’s heart on anything lower than the stars, or less stable than the heavens, or less enduring than God is to choose disaster, for sooner or later we shall pass from that thing or it from us.

In an old cemetery a 150-year-old epitaph said:

“Pause stranger when you pass me by.

As you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, so you will be.

So prepare for death and follow me.”

An unknown passerby read the epitaph and scratched a reply:

“To follow you I am not content,

Until I know which way you went.”

So where is the oasis? It is finding a personal and solid relationship with God. (Matt 6:23) As Job22:21 says “submit to God and be at peace with him…”

Try looking up these verses: John 10:10, 14:6, Matt 16:26, 11:28 Revelation 22:17

Satisfying the eternal urge within us is finding the eternal oasis of resting in Jesus. Resting from having to strive for our own salvation because we rest in a finished work. TBC