October 24, 1995, is a date I will never forget. I was called out of a business meeting with the terrifying news that my second-born son, Aaron, had just had a massive brain hemorrhage while away at school. After having won a scholarship to college and spending only six weeks there, he had been found in a park near the school, calling out for help. After a number of people ignored him, a "good Samaritan" finally stopped to help. She called 911 -- saving him from certain death. Aaron had emergency surgery to remove a blood clot that had grown to the size of a tennis ball.

Since then Aaron has undergone months of therapy and has gracefully endured numerous changes in his life. It is continuing to take much time and hard work, but he is determined to regain what he has lost. And when I look back on the past year, I am also reminded of a number of other changes and trials our family has endured. Yet as a result, each of us has seen the sovereign hand of God at work.

Two days after my son's surgery, Zondervan tried to contact me to see if I would be interested in writing an updated edition of Streams in the Desert. They had no way of knowing that I was still sitting with my son in intensive care, and from the outset I have seen this timing as sovereign -- not coincidental. As I have worked on this book God has ministered to me in a mighty way -- meeting me at the point of my own personal need.

Streams in the Desert's enduring power is the result of the selections being firmly based on the truth of Scripture. As the editor of the updated edition, I have endeavored to maintain the beauty of the original without altering its meaning, giving it the same care I gave the updated edition of My Utmost for His Highest, which I edited several years ago.

For those of you familiar with both Streams in the Desert and My Utmost for His Highest, you may be interested in knowing something of the tie between these two best-selling daily devotional books of all time. Not only were they originally published during the same time period (Streams in 1925, and My Utmost in 1927), but L. B. Cowman, who compiled Streams in the Desert, and Oswald Chambers had ministered together. They met when Cowman and her husband were missionaries to Japan and Chambers traveled there to preach. Also, both were greatly influenced by Charles Spurgeon, the great English preacher of the late 1800s. Chambers came to a saving knowledge of Christ through the preaching of Spurgeon, and Cowman selected more of Spurgeon's writings for Streams in the Desert than those of any other person.

I trust you will enjoy reading Streams in the Desert. As mentioned before, God has ministered to me in a mighty way as I have worked on this book, and I would like to share one very special example.

One morning as I was reading the Scriptures and praying, all of the events of the past several months seemed to be crushing in on me. My family and I were dealing with a number of changes in our lives including the sale of a business we had owned for twenty years, my oldest son leaving home to join the Navy, and Aaron leaving for college. All this was then followed by Aaron's brain hemorrhage and surgery. The next month, my mother had to have emergency surgery, was hospitalized for thirty days, and my wife and daughter were in a car wreck and suffered whiplash. As I reflected on all of this, I found myself complaining to the Lord about my circumstances and all of the things that seemed to be afflicting my family and me.

After I finished my prayer time, asking God to remove all my afflictions, I resumed my work on Streams in the Desert. To my amazement, especially since I was not in the best frame of mind, the next devotion I worked on was the one for February 19. You may want to turn to that one now to see how providentially it applied to my situation. The message of this devotion was exactly what I needed to hear, and was a great encouragement to me that God certainly is not finished with me yet. And I could honestly say after working on that devotion that my heart was reopened to the words of Paul, who said, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances" (Phil. 4:11).

My prayer is that God would also minister to you through Streams in the Desert in a similar way. I know firsthand the power of Christ that lies within these pages, and the hope, encouragement, comfort, and strength that comes from His Word being applied to our hearts. I trust these insights into God's Word will be like "Streams in the Desert" to you during the difficult times of your life, for He has said, "Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert" (Isa. 35:6).

James Reimann
Editor