Karen and the kids took me to Atlanta for Father's Day yesterday. We started with church at ACA, had Indian food afterwards, then chai at Emily's house, drinks at Estie's place, dinner and a walk. It was a wonderful day.

Life is good, but it wasn't always so. I've had my share of desert experiences. My friend Bobby John preached a good message on the subject yesterday. He defined a desert experience as a time when nothing works. He noted that all the heroes in the Bible had to go through a desert experience.

When that happens, it's for three reasons:

1. To test us. Studies show that a test will improve retention by 50%. God tested Abraham not to find out what he would do, but so that Abraham could discover what was in him.

2. To humble us. Not in the sense of beating us down. The problem is, we want to play God, controlling our lives instead of going to him. When God humbles us, he's restoring our alignment.

3. To make us dependent. God designed us to need him. We work better when we partner with God, relying on him when we're weak.

Have you gone through a desert experience? Have you discovered the purpose for it? Consider that the desert is for making you strong. We may want to get airlifted out of our desert experience, but that would short circuit God's strengthening process. If you're in a hard place, finish the hard work that God is doing in you. The surest way out of the desert is to give him permission to complete his process of making you stronger.