Finding the Purpose of Your Wilderness

Have you ever been in the middle of nowhere? I remember once, on a trip with my sister, driving away from the highway into a terrain of low hills, with nothing but dirt as far as eye could see. It was late summer, and the ground was dry and dusty. The road was good, but the farther we got from “civilization”, the more I began to feel the suffocating feeling of being far from human help with no cell phone signal. 

My imagination began to conjure up “what-ifs”. The car could break down, we could get a flat tire, we could be on the wrong road entirely and not realize it until we ran out of gas, hopelessly far into the wilderness… all this ran through my thoughts within the space of a minute, then sped back through for another lap. Round and round they raced. I asked my sister how long it would be until we got there, and her reply bought me a few seconds of relief before my imagination got to work again. -I was so happy when we finally pulled into the dusty little town to which we were going!

There’s just something about being in a wilderness that is panic-inducing. I think for me it is because in a wilderness I become acutely aware of the fact that I am helpless, needy, lacking necessary resources, and completely cut off from human aid. 

I got to thinking about wildernesses today as I pondered the current state of our world. We are helpless in the face of this virus. We are needy and lacking necessary resources as workers are forced to stay home and companies reel with both the loss of business and a lack of workers. In addition to our economic resources, some other daily resources are in short supply: grocery stores have been out of staple food items, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies. Healthcare professionals in many places are facing a lack of masks, equipment, and medicine. 

As so many states and nations issue stay-at-home orders and social distancing has become the norm, we have become a people cut off from human aid, both physically and emotionally. We cannot gather together in person for encouragement or socialization, we cannot reach out to touch another person for fear of imparting or receiving a deadly illness. As masks become a more widespread precaution, we are even unable to smile at others when we do see them out in public.

Yes, this moment in history does feel very much like a wilderness.

And yet, did you know that God often takes His servants into a wilderness in order to fulfill a specific purpose? A quick scan of Scripture reveals many of God’s servants being sent into a wilderness for several purposes. Perhaps God will use one of these to encourage you today about your corner of the wilderness!

    1.      To meet with God

Moses was sent into the wilderness, where he met God, who spoke to him from the midst of a burning bush. It was in this encounter that Moses’ walk with God began. As far as I can tell from Scripture, Moses went into the wilderness viewing God solely as the God of his fathers, distant and impersonal. But by the time he left the wilderness, God was his own God, the God whom he now served and spoke with directly.

Perhaps this is you. Perhaps your wilderness is for the purpose of making God your own, of beginning or developing a true relationship with Him. Perhaps God has slowed your life down so that you will have no excuse but to take time to get to know Him.

    2.      To build your faith:

Israel spent over 40 years in the wilderness. Yes, it was in judgement for their unbelief and disobedience when they first got to the land, but God always has a loving purpose behind His judgements. He is just, but He is also merciful.

In the wilderness, their faith was tested and built over and over again. With every fresh difficulty came a fresh opportunity to learn to trust God, and to see that He is trustworthy.

The Disciples also found themselves in a wilderness at one point, and it was there that they brought to Jesus a lack of resources. They didn’t have food for the multitude, and it was too far for them all to walk to the nearest supply, but Jesus did a miracle and showed them that He was not hindered by their lack of resources.

Perhaps God is giving you an opportunity to learn to really trust Him. Look around you. Are there difficulties you can’t solve yourself? Those are the difficulties in which your faith can be the most effectively built as you learn firsthand that God is worthy to be trusted. God often removes our resources so that we can learn to trust Him to provide, just as the disciples had to trust Jesus to feed a multitude with just five loaves of bread and two small fish. (Matt. 14)

    3.      To prepare you for service

David spent years in the wilderness watching sheep, during which time God was preparing him to fight Goliath. He then spent years in the wilderness again while running from Saul, and was prepared to be king by the development of his leadership skills and the strengthening of his character. But more importantly, both of David’s wilderness periods were preparing his heart by teaching him first of all to delight in God, and then to wait upon God. He was being prepared spiritually as well as physically and mentally.

John the Baptist also lived in the wilderness until it was time for his ministry to begin. His was a solitary time, so far as I can gather, and it prepared him to hold fast to the truth God had for him to proclaim, no matter if people agreed with him or not. It prepared him to be bold with the truth and to stand firm, even when it meant prison and death.

Perhaps this time is a solitary time in which God desires to knit your heart to Himself, preparing you for later ministry through this time of decreased distractions. Perhaps the lack of human companionship is meant to teach you to delight in God, and perhaps the uncertainty of this time is meant to teach you to wait upon Him. (A book I’ve been listening to recently is Waiting on God by Andrew Murray. I highly recommend it!)

    4.      For Victory

Jesus Himself was led into the wilderness, not just to fast for forty days, not just to be tempted by Satan at the end of that time, but, --perhaps most importantly-- to have victory over temptation and the tempter.

Perhaps your corner of the wilderness is a corner fraught with temptation. This is the time to get close to God, cry out for His help, search the Scriptures for the truths that combat the lies Satan is using to try to trap you, and to finally experience the victory Christ has already won on your behalf!

Whatever the purpose is in your particular corner of this “wilderness”, know that it is a good purpose, for the will of God is “good, and acceptable, and perfect”. (Romans 12:2) Look to God, and ask Him to show you what He desires to do in your heart. Seek Him, dear reader, for He has promised to be found of you.

“And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart, and I will be found of you, saith the Lord”

Jeremiah 29:13-14a

“For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

Luke 11:10