Ohh!! Inspiring Sands

I stood at the top of the dunes and was awe-struck! The stretches of sand, some patches of plain flat land, and then endless rolling sand hills as far as the eye can see. No tree in sight, barely any....; the tiniest patches of grass so widely dispersed that when you come across one you've forgotten about the one you last saw.

It's extremely hot in the day. The reflection of the sun on the bright sand and the heat that springs up is blinding and gives dizzy spells. The air is heavy with heat, and the wind carries with it sharp grits of sand which slap across the face and occasionally land on the eyes and mouth. In the evening the wind brings a chilly bite. The silence is heavy and feels timeless.

I thought of Haggar's flight into the wilderness after she was sent away by Abraham and Sarah. I pondered on her despair as she submitted and surrendered to her fate and that of her son Ishmael having wandered for who knows how long in the lonely desert. [Genesis 21]

I thought of Moses and the encounter at the burning bush.[Exodus 3]

I thought of Jesus and His experience with the 40 days and 40 nights of fasting alone in the desert...I pondered on His encounter with Satan....at such a time and place! [Matthew 4]

I thought of the Israelites when they wandered for 40 years en route to Canaan! [Joshua 5]

I was astonished! flabbergasted! stunned! 

I imagined how disorienting it must have been. The deserts referred to in the Bible are found in the regions of Arabia, is it not so? If yes, then the land is not flat, it's wavy with endless rolling hills of sand. It is not easy to walk on shifting sand. It's heavy...each step sinks your foot in the sand and as you lift there is a resistance which takes a toll on the knees. Even after walking long I imagine it seems you have not moved at all.The landscape looks the same, the dunes look the same, you climb one and descend it, only to walk a while and climb another which looks the same as the previous. It feels as though you're back at the same point....you cannot see where the sand ends. Meanwhile, it's quiet, it's empty, frightful even for them it must've been....

To me the desert is mystical and just as much a wonder as the majesty of sky or the might of the ocean. God is great! Marvellous are His works! And that 40-year walk of the Israelites is utterly inexplicable.