Prayer Conference

Attended a prayer summit this past weekend. God moved in wonderful ways and it was a good way to start off the new year. I want to share something that I was impacted by. While on a "quiet time" with the Lord during the summit, I found this cactus growing from within the tire. I don't know which was there first, but I felt directed to look up the phrase "trees in the desert." Upon doing so, I found only one place in the Bible where that is mentioned:

Isaiah 41:17 - 41:19 (NLTSE)
“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them. I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. I will fill the desert with pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground. I will plant trees in the barren desert—cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine

Isaiah 41:20 (KJV)
That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

The Temple was paneled with cedar (1 Kings 6:13), the ark was made with acacia (Exodus 25:10), and olive and myrtle trees were used by the Israelites to build shelters during the celebration when the law was read to the people during the time of Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 8:15-16) Cypress, fir, and pine trees used to beautify God's sanctuary.

Isaiah 60:13 (NLTSE) “The glory of Lebanon will be yours—the forests of cypress, fir, and pine—to beautify my sanctuary.

What finally struck me was that the trees in the desert were not the end result of what God will do. The trees mentioned were the ones that were used to build houses for God and man. God won't just answer the poor by providing for their physical needs; God will provide a way for the poor to commune with God - He will be with them.