Wilderness

He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. (Deut 8:15)

 

At first glance, it may seem the only thing worse than finding yourself in the wilderness, is realizing God led you there. (Luke 4:1)

 

Let’s be clear. The wilderness is dreadful. It is vast. It is dry. The enemy lurks in the wilderness. He desires to leave his mark, his sting on your life.

 

But take courage. Lot’s of people in the bible found themselves in the wilderness. God had a purpose for it. He did it to humble them and test them, to see what was in their heart. To see if they would keep His commands. ( Deut 8)

I believe He uses the wilderness for the same purpose in our lives. He wants to see what is in our heart. When life presses down on me, what will come oozing out? I have come to realize some powerful things can happen through the wilderness experience.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (Exodus 3:1) 

Not only does Moses find himself in the wilderness. He has journeyed to the far side of it. In this scenario, the wilderness is literally a dry and barren land. But I propose that the wilderness can also be that dry and barren place in your soul, spirit, mind or heart.

Life is hard in the wilderness. Often, I feel depleted and lonely there. I feel desperate to hear from God, but He seems so quiet in the wilderness. I seem to lack the desire or stamina necessary to preserve to the far side of it. But when I see what waits for me on the far side of the wilderness, it stirs up a jealousy in heart to get there.

There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within the bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight –why the bush does not burn up.”

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” (Exodus 3:3-4)

The presence of God is what is waiting for us on the far side of the wilderness. God tells Moses to take off his shoes for where he is standing is holy ground.

Notice Moses drew near to God, before God spoke to him. Come near to God and He will come near to you. (James 4:8) 

WHEN the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him…

How I long to hear God call my name. How I long to find myself standing the presence of God Almighty. How I long to find myself standing on Holy Ground. But I have also come to realize, the presence of God is often on the far side of that dry and barren land. And I must preserve through the wilderness to find a greater manifestation of His presence.

What we do while we find ourselves in the wilderness is important. It has consequences. The Israelites did a lot of complaining and grumbling in the wilderness and it prevented them from entering the promise land. It also kept them in the wilderness for forty years. (Numbers 14)

But Moses, decided to draw near. And when God noticed him drawing near, God called him by name. God told him, who He was. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. (Exodus 3:6)

I AM WHO I AM. (Exodus 3:14)

After God revealed himself as the great I AM, He commissioned Moses. An anointing, a calling, came upon him. God said…So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. (Exodus 3:10)

Here is a word of caution. The enemy lurks in the wilderness. As sure as God is present and desiring to reveal a deeper manifestation of Himself and His will to you, the devil is determined to derail it. He whispers his lies into our ears. His attacks are strategic. He aims for our places of weakness. He wants to discourage and distract us. He wants us to give up before we experience a deeper manifestation of God. He desperately wants us to quit before God’s anointing comes on us.

You can see the enemy whispering his lies into Moses’ ear. God’s command to Moses was simple to understand but hard to do. And Moses struggled with feelings of inadequacy. Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? (Exodus 3:11)

The enemy of our soul whispers the same lie into our ears as well…Who am I, that I should go, or do, or say??? God speaks His will into our spirit and the enemy works to unravel it. He wants us to doubt God, doubt His call on our lives.

I want to encourage my sisters today. When you find yourself in the wilderness, take heart. Even Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit for 40 days to be tempted by the devil. The bible says at the end of it, he was hungry.

Realize, there will be days when you will be hungry.

 

Maybe you will be hungry physically or spiritually or emotionally. Right after the bible says Jesus was hungry, it says the devil said to Him. The devil waited until Jesus was hungry, depleted and vulnerable to tempt Him. He is strategic. And the devil twisted the word of God to tempt Him.  But Jesus resisted him. (Luke 4:1-12)

I want you to take note of the last verse regarding Jesus’ wilderness excursion and the first verse of the next passage…

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. (Luke 4:13-14)

The wilderness is a season. It will pass. And when it passes, I want you to leave with a deeper manifestation of who God is. I want you to leave with an anointing and calling on your life. And I want you to leave in the power of the Spirit!