He opened the rock, and water gushed out; like a river it flowed in the desert, Psalm 105:41 NIV.

That’s a picture of God’s provision for His people, Israel. In the forty years of their wandering through the wilderness, a dry and barren land where there were no pools, no rivers, no streams, where water was almost non-existent. God provided water for them in abundance. He provided it in a most unlikely way. He provided it out of a rock.

When you look at a rock in the desert as I’ve looked at it countless times, it seems so hard, so unyielding, so little good could come out of it. But in the disguise of the rock we understand that God Himself was with the people. God Himself was the rock and out of Himself there came His provision for His people in abundance.

It was important that Israel knew how to approach the rock. At one time Moses was commanded to strike it. At another time he was commanded to speak to it, and when he approached the rock in faith and obedience, out of that seemingly hard and unyielding rock there came an abundance of water that flowed like a river in the desert.

It’s often so in our lives, where in a time of barrenness when provision seems lacking, but God is there. He’s there in the form of a rock. He’s there in a form of something that seems hard and unyielding, something that we could complain about. But when we recognize God in it and approach Him in faith and obedience, then the rock becomes the source of our provision.

~ Derek Prince

To listen to Derek’s original audio, click here.

Materials used by kind permission of Derek Prince Ministries.