Now when forty years had passed,

an angel appeared to him

in the wilderness of Mount Sinai,

in a flame of fire

                   in a bush.

               Acts 7. 30

(All those decades

in what only appeared

       as a barren land,

was not wasted time

                after all,

but a time of

    preparation and training,

    awareness and faithfulness,

            even in the ordinary.

Learning how to listen

               and see differently,

how to walk and to trust.

         and how to respond.

God always uses

    the wilderness for His glory,

engraving His Presence

  into the pattern

     and practices of our lives.)

O LORD,

We don't always recognize

    Your hand and Your Presence

when things are hard,

or when the landscape is a mess,

or even when

             all is favorable.

Help us to not just acknowledge You,

   but abide in You

   and walk in Your ways,

even when it seems like

              nothing is happening.

Almighty One,

    We are not alone.

    You are with us.

May we never

        ignore Your Presence

nor underestimate the wonders

          of the wilderness.

There are no insignificant days,

      nor little obediences.)