"Find Me in the Wilderness"

What do you think of when you see the word “wilderness”?  Professor Google defines it as “an uncultivated, uninhabited, and inhospitable region, a neglected or abandoned area of a garden or town, or a position of disfavor, especially in a political context.” It’s always interesting to me to read a definition and then ponder what that really means in context of God.

Many of us often say we are in a “wilderness season.”  To the majority of us, that means we feel out of God’s favor, out of His reach and have no direction or clarity.  We think of the Jews that wandered in the desert for 40 years after God delivered them from Egypt.  But, too often we forget that God traveled with them – a cloud by day and a fire by night.

The Lord went ahead of them.  He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire.  This allowed them to travel by day or by night.  And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people. Exodus 13:21-22

Isn’t it interesting that we forget the fact that God went before them?  That His Spirit was constantly with them as they traversed the dry, hot terrain?  They did not go without - He provided food (manna), water and neither their clothes nor shoes wore out.

And, still, the people of Israel, the chosen nation of God, murmured and complained.  An entire generation missed out on the blessing of the new land because they could not stay focused on Him. We are no different than they were.

So, what is it in us that causes us to dismiss God’s presence from our every day lives?  We can all agree that it all started in the garden when sin entered the world.  Our Father gave us free will to choose Him or choose the world.  Sometimes that decision seems to live somewhere in the gray, where we want what God has for us, but are unable to give up the comforts, desires and lusts the world makes so appealing.  Mankind has not changed throughout the ages.  We are no different from our ancestors.  Just like them, we waver like the wind and vacillate back and forth between our faithfulness to God and faithfulness to ourselves. 

I find myself in this wilderness season.  But, as I cry out to the Lord, He reminds me that the wilderness is not the place where we are lost and forgotten.  It is the place where our dependence on Him becomes critical to our very existence.  It’s where our faith either leads us or defeats us. 

“Where is your faith?” Jesus asks in Luke 8:25. Many days I cannot answer that question.  In Matthew 8:26, He asks “’Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!’”  Again, I cannot answer.  My faith feels so small and unable to carry me.  And yet, Jesus tells me, “’Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’” (Matthew 17:20). 

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”  Why is faith so hard to muster in difficult times?  We say we believe but our hearts are frail and fickle.  It’s no wonder our wilderness journey feels so long and drawn out. And, still, He calls to us, “Find Me in the wilderness.”

I’m reminded of Jesus.  Luke 5:16 tells us that “… Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.”  I know that Jesus was fully God and fully Man while he walked upon the Earth.  His need to withdraw and pray shows me that He had to lean on faith in His Father’s plan.  As He remembered how the Holy Spirit lead the people of Israel in the wilderness, He knew He could and would commune with His Father in the wilderness.  And, because His faith in Who He was and what the Father would provide for Him, Jesus sought His Father out in the very place most of us dread to venture.  And we know, His Father met Him there.

Beloved, are you in the wilderness?  It is not such a dry and desolate place.  It is not where you have lost favor with God.  It is not where you are abandoned and forgotten.  No, it is the place God leads you so He and He alone can show you His way.  It is the place where His presence never leaves you nor forsakes you.  It is the very place where He finds you and welcomes you into His arms.  It is the place where He makes things new.

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

Isaiah 43:19