ALL WE NEEDED TO SURVIVE by Robert Soto

ALL WE NEEDED TO SURVIVE by Robert Soto

January 22, 2010

Deuteronomy 8:7-8 "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land--a land with streams and pools of water...a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing..."

Yesterday as I drove through the Texas desert we passed through one of the most beautiful places in Texas that I have ever seen. I do not think many people know about it because it's in a remote are of the land and the only way to see it is to take a back road which can be sort of dangerous because there are miles and miles of nothing. So if you have an emergency, you are without any kind of service, including cell phones. But as you drive up a small hill, it overlooks one of the most beautiful mesas and valleys I have ever seen our state. It looks like a place time forgot. In my overactive imagination I can imagine a dinosaur creeping up behind me and chasing my van. One of these days I will have to find out who owns it and see if we can take a hike up and down the valleys.

But as we were driving through the valley, my foster son who is a registered member of our tribe, reminded me that not too long ago, this valley was part of our lives. That in this valley my people hunted and lived and found ways to survive. It just reminded me that we have such a great God and Creator who took care of us and desired nothing but the best for us. It reminded me that in the midst of a desolate land, He still cared for His people and took care of them and provided for them. My people once found an oasis in the midst of the desert. God the Creator provided them with all they needed to live and see another day. It was a land promised and given to our people. Moses said, "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land--a land with streams and pools of water...a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing..." God the Creator will always take care of those who honor Him. Our land might not have been overflowing with wheat or barley or fig trees or honey and oil, but our good land was given to us by God the Creator and it was all we needed to survive.

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor of:

McAllen Grace Brethren Church
The Native American New Life Center
Chief of Chiefs Christian Church