What do you think of when you hear the term wilderness? I think of a lonely, deserted, place. A place with not many resources, a place you would not want to stay for a long period of time. The wilderness can be a time where God feels silent and distant. The wilderness can be a place of pain and discomfort. It can also be a place where life just doesn’t seem to go your way, and your past looks better than the present. But lately, I have learned that sometimes God calls us out of our circumstance and into the wilderness. The wilderness even though rough is part of God’s plans.
In the book of Exodus, God called the Israelites out of their slavery and set them on a path to the promised land, but they had to encounter the wilderness first. I believe God uses isolation to bring about restoration. As the Israelites set out they were overcome with joy to be escaping their past. They sang praises to him for bringing them out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. They had seen God do several miraculous signs and wonders, but three days later they had their first encounter with the reality of the wilderness. They came to a place with no water and immediately they began to gripe and complain to God instead of remembering his faithfulness in the past. This continued to happen the entire 40 years the Israelites spent in the wilderness. You see the wilderness of life can either make you bitter or you can allow it to make you better. So much of life is not about what happens to you but how you respond to your circumstances. When we complain, it shows contempt for our maker. When we complain about circumstances in our life, we complain against the creator of life itself. When we do not acknowledge God in our circumstances you tell the world my God is irreverent. If we do not look to him in our daily life, the world will not see him when they look to us. God is able to make the bitter things in your life sweet, just as he made the bitter water sweet at Marah.
So why are times in the wilderness necessary? I believe God uses the wilderness to prepare us for a greater purpose and plan. Before the Israelites could enter the Promised land, God had to prepare them to a be a people set apart for him. Three months after leaving Egypt, God brought the Israelites to Mount Sinai. This was the place where God gave them all the instructions and commands on how to be holy and righteous people. This was not a quick or easy process. The Israelites continued to disappoint God, but he never turned his back on them. They were encamped at Mount Sinai for 11 months. (Kinda of ironic since the World Race is also 11 months.) this was the place God gave the Ten Commandments, rules for living, and rules for the tabernacle. It took almost an entire year for God to prepare the Israelites for their destiny. If you look at the life of Jesus as well, before he started his earthly ministry, God also called him into the Wilderness for 40 days in order to prepare him to be the Savior of the World. He was tempted and tried, hungry and thirsty, weak and tired, but he prevailed through.
In life, God may call us into times of wilderness. He may call us out of our current circumstances, because he has a greater plan for us and the time in the wilderness is to prepare us for what he has in store. Those times will not always be easy. There may be times you want to give up and return to your old ways. There may be times where it feels like God is silent. God took the Israelites out of slavery immediately, but it took a long time to get the slavery out of the Israelites. Remember it is a process. Remember God’s past faithfulness so you will not get caught up in complaining. You can allow the wilderness to make you bitter or make you better. You can either let it rob you of joy or you can reap a harvest of lessons learned in the Wilderness.
I believe my wilderness is the race and I believe it is a wilderness for so many others. Yes, the Race is about partnering with ministries around the world and fulilling the great comission, but a large part of the Race is God transforming a Racer’s heart and life. God called me out my past into a time for him to prepare me to be better for him and I do believe he has a plan for me. Just as the Israelites stayed at Mount Sinia for 11 months, God called me and so many others into a time of growth and preparation in a 11 month time span. The wilderness is a time for you to draw near to God. Yes, there are hard days. There are days when I just want to go home. There are also days where God teaches me so much about Him and life. But instead of dwelling on the hard days and letting things rob me of my joy, I choose to reap the harvest of what God is doing in my life.
Is God calling you out of your slavery and into the Wilderness? What is his bigger plan for you? Will you allow it to make you bitter or make you better?
