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A man
once got lost in the desert. Many days and nights he wandered
about. He was constantly thinking about how long a human being
can survive without food and water. The heat of the sun was
merciless and the man started to hallucinate. Whenever he fell
asleep he dreamt of cool water and fresh fruits. But every time
he woke up the pain and the agony were even worse and he kept on
stumbling through the hot desert.
Suddenly he saw something like an oasis in quite a distance.
“Gee!
Just another
mirage!” he thought. “It is just a
reflection of my dreams and my innermost desires!” The man was
absolutely sure that this beautiful oasis was unreal and that
his brain started to fantasize. However, he kept on walking into
this direction and he realized that this mirage is not
disappearing. On the contrary the picture became clearer and
more vivid and it was even possible to recognize the date palms,
the green grass and some rocks from where some fresh water came
out. “This is nothing but a fancy of my delirious mind!” the man
said to himself. “Such
fantasies
are completely normal in my
devastated condition. Of course – now I can even hear some water
running. It is a hallucination of my ears – Mother Nature is so
cruel!” Then the man broke down. He died with a curse about the
absurdness and senselessness of life on his lips. A couple of
hours later two Bedouins found the corpse and they were
astonished that the man was not able to reach the fount of the
oasis. The refreshing and life giving water was just a few
meters away.
How often are we blind for the presence of God in our lives! God
is not far away from each of us. He is the oasis with the fresh
water. The man in the desert died miserably because he could not
believe that the oasis was real. God invites us to look straight
to Jesus who is the giver of the water of life.
Pastor Matthias E. Hartwig
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