The Wilderness

10/4/2011

Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.

Bible verse of the day: Deuteronomy 31:6 " Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

The wilderness means different things to different people. If you say to someone that you have just returned from the wilderness, they probably think you went camping or shot the rapids in a raft or canoe or went mountain climbing. They would think that you went to get away, to relax and recharge. They may think that you needed time alone to think about your life, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. To escape the frantic pace at which we live our lives in the 21st century. The wilderness conjures up vivid memories for most people. For me, it represents freedom, beauty, open space, quietness, serenity, adventure and most importantly, time for personal introspection and reflection. I have found my soul many times during various 'wilderness' excursions. But in my Christian walk, as I am sure is the case with many other folks, the wilderness can represent something more scary. It can represent the times that truly test a man's faith. it can represent our black hole experiences, where we are alone and afraid, with little feedback or communication from God. Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness to prove his ministry was not about the kingdom of this world, but the kingdom of the unseen heavenly realms for which God had sent him. Jesus suffered greatly in the wilderness, but he stood strong by rebuking the devil with scripture, " it is written that Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4 " It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Matthew 4:7 " Away from me Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only." Matthew 4:10 The fact that Jesus, the Son of God, suffered greatly when tempted in the wilderness should give us all perspective and encouragement when facing our own wilderness experiences. In fact, Hebrews 2:18 tells us, " Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." That He understands what we are going through in our darkest hours of questioning our faith, and that He is able to help us and intercede on our behalf when we're wondering where God is in our lives, when our prayers aren't being answered, when we can't hear God's voice, is what has kept me going many times. It is that personal relationship and fellowship with Christ, God incarnate, that defines our walk. That He can relate to our human experiences, since he also experienced them as a human, is what sets our whole Christian life apart from any other religion in the world. Because when we are in the midst of a wilderness experience, when God is building up our trust in Him through a season of preparation, there is no other practical way to get through that except to know that our savior, Jesus Christ, suffered as well and can relate to what we are going through. Not surprisingly, the place where we are most likely to experience testing is exactly the place where we struggle most to trust God. For me, that has been patience and fully surrendering my financial future over to Him. I am slowly learning how to let go and trust Him for this part of my life and as I have tried to hang on too tight to what isn't mine to begin with and to what I can never keep. He has been teaching me some necessary and painful lessons. I find it laughable as I look back on my experiences, how I could clearly hear Him saying to me, " We can either do this the easy way or the hard way, but the lesson is going to get taught one way or another," and how my pride kept me from doing it the easier way. He needed me to trust Him more in this area of my life, and because I was a reluctant learner, it took more time and cost me more resources than He probably wanted it to. I firmly believe that God always wants what is best for us, and He uses our wilderness experiences to help prepare us for a bigger dream that He wants us to accomplish. He teaches us how to surrender our dreams to Him, how to persevere during a difficult trial, how to leave our comfort zones, so He can help us reach our full potential as our dream is realized, and to glorify Him. He needs to transform us into the person that is capable of living out the dream, which we were created for. This sequence repeats itself over and over in the Bible, when God uses the biggest underdogs to help achieve His purposes. He removes people from their comfort zone, helps them overcome obstacles, grows their faith via trials and tribulations, temporarily leaves them alone, leaves them discouraged, prepares them through a deepening trust, releases them from captivity, gains an improbable victory and achieves a fulfillment of His big purposes. The whole time the players in the various stories, whether it's Moses, Joseph, David, or a slew of others, are going 'we're not worthy.' You must have the wrong guy or gal. We are filled with self doubt, we are murderer's, adulterer's, stutterer's, surely you must mean someone else. God must just shake His head and go "oh yeah of little faith!" He has been preparing them their whole life for everything He needs them to accomplish, He knows everything about them and still they are reluctant to accept the fact that they can trust Him fully. Human nature is nothing if not consistent, we must have to see it to believe it, I guess. God is in the resume building business and He often uses our wilderness experiences to help mold us into what he needs us to be. That usually requires some pain on our part, and it always requires a greater level of patience and trust. God knows how badly we want our dream to be accomplished, He wants it even more. He must refine us first. For when our "lack" is finished, whatever that is for each of us personally, then our preparation in the wilderness is finished. We are finally ready to claim our dreams and glorify our God!