He Who Rides Through the Deserts

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land (Psalm 68:4-6).

Prisoners are typically people who have been arrested for some reason, right? People who are guilty. Here, "prisoners" are people enslaved to sin. The sins you commit are your own fault; the fall of the world that led us all to sin, however, is not. God recognizes the difference, and He has mercy on the prisoners who wake up and realize who He is. Not only does He set them free, He "leads them out to prosperity"--the rich blessings of the inheritance we receive through His son, Jesus.

God is also the Father to orphans. He protects widows. He provides a home for those who are isolated, for those who wander. In other words, God creates families. He establishes communities. It is His earnest desire that none of us should ever be homeless, lost, or unloved. He speaks up for the defenseless and empowers them by the Holy Spirit to take back what was lost.

Most earth-shatteringly, He loves us, and He Himself becomes our father. He "comes and makes his home with us" (John 14:23). No other "gods" have ever done that. In religions from all cultures throughout history, gods are lofty beings who separate themselves from humanity and only take.

Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke states that other worshipers spread a table before their gods; but the Christian God spreads a table before His children. That's the nature of our God.

Psalm 68 tells us that we should praise God because He rides through deserts bringing freedom and establishing love between us. We should praise Him because He places evil, the "rebellious" who create pain and problems for others, in the desert. He reverses the order of sin. He turns it upside down.

It's easy for people to look at the pain, violence, and evil of the world and conclude that God doesn't exist. At one point, I almost was one of those people. I studied history and couldn't understand why a good God could let there be so much moral ambiguity in the world, so much destruction, so much heartlessness--like our sin and evil was His fault.

But I couldn't let go of the idea of God, and the reason is simple: throughout my life, I had already seen the character of God. I had watched Him free prisoners and defend the poor--including myself--even from childhood. So though I could question Him and be angry with Him, I couldn't deny Him. I had already seen too many miracles.

God wasn't afraid of my doubt, and He's not afraid of yours. He wants to answer the questions you have. He has answered mine, and I am sure He will answer many more in the future.

In response to my willingness to believe in Him, He has shown me more of Himself than I had ever hoped to see. I don't understand a lot of things, but I know my God is for me, because He has blessed me so tremendously with physical blessings, but, even better, with Himself (Romans 8:31-32).

God knows that it is hard to believe. And I do too. But I will tell you that this faith thing is real. I've seen people healed, relationships restored, money coming in from unexpected sources--miracles that are so obviously miracles that anyone can see they aren't coincidence. He's a good Father, y'all.

Faith is not born out of some intellectual commitment (though that's needed), but rather from a deep understanding of who God is. That's the reason I couldn't shake Him, even during my moments of most extreme doubt and depression. I knew He was the defender of the poor and weak, the Father to the fatherless, the rescuer of captives.

Maybe you didn't have a childhood like mine. But He can't wait to start showing you right now who He really is. It's never too late to be taught like a child--His child--provided you have faith like one. All you need is the teeniest mustard seed of belief that He is good, and He will do the rest.