A River In The Desert: Prophecy Fulfilled

On May 19, 2021, I posted the fulfillment of a word the LORD spoke to me about Texas. You can read that -> HERE. Last night, another fulfillment became apparent to me. This one goes back a year to July of 2020.

The morning of July 7, 2020, Holy Spirit quoted Isaiah 43:19, but He redefined two of the words. The verse states, “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and RIVERS IN THE DESERT.”

He replaced “rivers in the desert” with “wadi in the Negev.”

Now, I had no idea what that was, which was WHY I knew Holy Spirit spoke it. “Wadi in the Negev” is actually a more accurate depiction of the verse. A “wadi” is a desert stream which is dry most of the time but forms in a flash after sudden rain. The Negev is one such desert where they often form.

Knowing WHAT the words meant was enlightening, but still, I questioned why He’d spoken them. Was this simply for my education? Sometimes, this is the case. But over the next year, I learned otherwise. Many times, He spoke of rivers to me. He’d name one I’d never heard of or draw me to a verse where rivers were the topic or, on several occasions, He’d cause a word someone else had spoken about rivers to come into my view, people I wouldn’t ordinarily listen to (out of habit, not dislike).

Then, on December 28, 2020, He asked a question. “Can a river change its course?”

The answer is yes, and there are many reasons why this would happen. But the answer to the question is less important than WHY He asked it. Holy Spirit asking such a question implies the event will happen. He intends to change the course of a river in a new direction. This could be literal or figurative or both. Of course, at the time, I had no idea which was the case.

“Where are you going with this, Suzanne?” you ask.

I will explain. Hang in there. But also, that feeling you have, the wonderment behind this post, that is how I felt about Holy Spirit’s continual river references. So many times, I asked Him what He was up to and got no definitive answer. His timing is always perfect, and we must trust it.

I must mention one another word He spoke to me about rivers before I make my final point. On January 13, 2021, I saw two non-English words. Know this, I do not speak or read any other language. I took French in high school but remember little of it. So, my vision of these two words was definitely Holy Spirit’s work.

I saw the word “takai” and the word “arroyo.” A Japanese word and a Spanish word side-by-side.

What did one have to do with the other? I asked.

Well, “takai” means “expensive” or “pricey.” It can also mean “higher (up).” An “arroyo” is a … yes, you guessed it … a type of stream which runs through the desert. Specifically, a desert in the Southwest. Merriam-Webster defines it as “a watercourse (such as a creek) in an arid region” and “a water-carved gully or channel.”

Merriam-Webster gives a further definition of it in the word’s origin: “The word arroyo is traditionally compared with Latin arrugia, a word used by Pliny (Historia naturalis 33.70) for galleries excavated into mountainsides in the Iberian peninsula to extract gold.”

Bells went off in my head. First, a “wadi in the Negev.” Now, an “arroyo in the desert” and its tie to gold, something EXPENSIVE (takai). But WHY? I will answer that. Although, realize, it took me quite some time to receive the answer myself.

Also understand, I’m sharing all of this with you at God’s direction. I told only a few people at the time. Perhaps, this will help you LISTEN more. LISTENING is the most important key to HEARING Holy Spirit’s voice. If you do not LISTEN, then you will not hear.

Clarity on all these words came from a known prophet in May of 2021. He spoke the verse from Isaiah 43 alongside a word about Arizona and their audit of the 2020 election. As quick as an “arroyo” or a “wadi” rises in the desert, the revelation came to me.

Can a river change its course? Yes, when God desires to change it. It doesn’t matter how dry and arid things seem; He can create water where there isn’t any, and in the movement of the water, things of value will be found. Things will be EXPOSED.

Fast forward, now, to July 15, 2021. While scrolling social media, doing nothing particularly spiritual or even thinking spiritual things, I stopped on a post by our local weatherman. There, playing on the screen before me, was a flash flood in Flagstaff, Arizona. A literal one. And someone’s truck floating down the torrent.

A river in the desert, specifically Arizona! AND at the END of the Maricopa County audits. How incredible that is! A spiritual river and a physical one. Now, I do not blame God for the flash flood, but He sees all events, and the timing is significant.

Which brings me to my final point because I can hear your doubts, and I used to share them. I held the mentality that God was only concerned about certain things on earth. I didn’t know I thought this, but as revelation will do, once you see something in a new light, your view of your previous ideas becomes much clearer.

God was in the church, in worship services. We were supposed to read the Bible, pray, and honor God. I even extended Him to providing healing and financial success. But all the rest of life, world events, governments, weather, education, healthcare, even down to the paths of people’s individual lives, He was only superficially involved in. I could not see the bigger picture.

God is SPECIFIC and PRECISE. There is NOT a single thing on this earth that He does not care about and involve Himself in. NOTHING is outside of His attention.  

He is not forgetful or uncaring. He is GOOD and MERCIFUL and FAITHFUL. This is the purpose of prophecy, to remind men HOW INVOLVED He is and that He is in complete control, although our human minds cannot grasp that. What looks like chaos to us, isn’t chaos to Him.

Turn with me to 1 Kings 17 for an example. The prophet Elijah had called for drought in the land then had gone to the brook Cherith to be fed by the ravens, at God’s instruction. When the brook dried up, God told him to go to Zarephath where He’d “commanded” a widow woman to “sustain” him. (1Ki 17:9) Notice, when Elijah approached her, she had no idea WHO he was or that God had commanded her to do anything.

“And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” (1 Kings 17:11-12)

Commentaries point out that the fact she was picking up sticks shows her extreme poverty. Elijah would have known this when he asked. He asked anyway and spoke immediately to her fear. The fact he said “fear not” tells us she was afraid. She had enough left to make one meal. That’s it. And a child who she’d have to hear say how hungry he was.

We can read how the story ends, with God’s great provision for her. Her meal and oil would never run out for as long as the drought lasted. But my point in drawing your eye to it is this – God saw a poor, lonely widow who was starving to death and sent her His divine help, long before she became aware of who Elijah even was. She didn’t recognize him as a prophet when he approached. She was prepared to die. Another commentary points out there were plenty of widows around, yet God saw this one. He chose her and was as interested in her survival as He was that of His prophet, Elijah.

What did Jesus say about the one lost sheep? “What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?” (Matthew 12:11)

Jesus’ entire ministry was to individuals. To a single sheep. He sought out a man seated by a pool for 38 years, one man among many. He sailed across the Sea of Galilee to minister to one demon-possessed man. Who in the religious orders of that day had bothered with either one? They were too concerned with their rules and regulations to even notice they were speaking to the Son of God. (Mt 12:2)

“Who does He think He is forgiving sins?” (Mk 2:20)

There is no one and no-thing out of God’s hand, and there are no coincidences with God. This is my greatest personal lesson from this. That He DESIRES to speak, and WHAT He speaks holds meaning. That He sees and is involved in everything. If I’ll simply wait and trust Him, eventually, He will make His meaning clear to me.

I am humbled by this. To think, the God of the universe, the God of Abraham, the God who split the Red Sea, the Savior of the world and the Power of the Resurrection speaks to me, a small-town girl who writes books. Amazing.


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.feelgoodromance.com
www.suzannedwilliams.com