Fifth Stage: The Desert of Shur (Exodus 15:22-25)

Theme: The LORD purifies you.

After traveling for three days through the desert without finding water, they arrived at Marah, where they could not drink the water, because it was too bitter. Hence this place was called Marah. As the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?" he appealed to the LORD, who pointed out to him a certain piece of wood. When he threw this into the water, the water became fresh. It was here that the LORD, in making rules and regulations for them, put them to the test.

It was in this desert where God gave His people bread from heaven to eat.

Let us meditate on when we experienced spiritual dryness and its difficulty, and how we could not imagine God, or feel his presence in our lives.  It was a desert void of human and divine existence.

Let us pray for all those who live in spiritual dryness, so that they might not be afraid and give up, but that they would continue the way because the greater the dryness is in this stage, the more fruits you will bear in the next stages.

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For Spiritual Direction

This stage goes from the moment you proclaim your first victory, passing through a terrible dryness, to the moment you betray your God.

 The length of this stage depends from one person to another. Some people experience the Desert of Shur for more than 10 years others for less than two years. Usually, this stage lasts more than one year. All people experience the end of “The Desert of Shur” stage at the moment they betray the God who called them in “the Burning Bush”.

 In this stage, you experience God’s absent Presence, dryness, questions without answers. God remains a priority. The soul experiences horror and great fear: “Am I on the right track?”

  

 Man experiences dryness & the absence of God:

 much more difficult- rarely found comfort- dry, very dry- no fire- Hard time functioning- Am I on the right track?- Am I with the Lord?- Where am I going?- Where is the peace that He promised?- What else I can be involved in?- trying to be holy- life getting worse- How can I take care of the family?- moving to different places

 Man experiences healing:

 therapy (physical, psychological)- trying to be healed- I broke up and cried- a lot of healing (childhood, father, God’s love)

 Man experiences forgiveness:

 Man’s behavior & feelings:

 withdrawal- following rules- running on my own- inward attachments- fighting, yelling, misinterpreted, jumping to conclusions- If I worked more, I might have succeeded- I didn’t have the sense that God was pleased in my work- hang on to resentments- hurt by remarks- I did not want to lose- Voice: “you will never win”- providence for a few years- give me my daily bread- my manhood has been taken from me- no children- “I was doing too much”- “Lord, I’m having a bad day, I want you to be with me.- Lord, I’m gonna have to rely on you- I need your help- Daily Mass- Psalm 18 (the promise of the Lord)- God show me what you want me to do-

 Meditations: Exodus 15:22-27 + Exodus 16-17

 Betraying God at the end of “the Desert of Shur” period will lead you to the next stage: “Mount Sinai”.