Feb 7, 2011
The Wilderness is God’s Best Plan for Us
I hate the wilderness times of life. Stuff doesn’t make sense, goals remain hazy, and uncertainty persistently gnaws away. Wilderness times are uncomfortable, unsettling, and sometimes frightening.
The uncertainty in the wilderness strips me of peace and leads to simmering frustration that sometimes boils over when yet another thing goes wrong. That is all part of the plan.
I can imagine that all of those emotions were coursing through the Israelites while they wandered through the desert for 40 years. Think about how frustrating that would be. You know where the good land is, but God won’t let you go there.
God took the Israelites to a wilderness full of rocks and scraps of brush and said, “Perfect.”
God didn’t run amuck with his hands in the air saying, “Oh no! The Israelites are in the wilderness! They’re uncomfortable! They’re uncertain! Gabriel, fix it! Fix it!”
The wilderness was plan A.
God wanted to teach them to rely on him, to seek him first, and to find their comfort only in him. He wanted them to feel the depths of frustration and lack so that they would understand that any prosperity they experience comes from God and not their own efforts. Wilderness times are tough, but excellent instruction periods.
Wilderness times teach us the most important lessons we could learn, even if the process is anything but comfortable.
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I think it’s worth noting that nearly all of God’s servants have experienced wilderness times. Moses did prior to delivering God’s people did (40 years!). The Apostle Paul spent three years in Arabia immediately after his conversion. Even the Lord Jesus had a 40-day wilderness sojourn. Perfect, indeed!
Yeah, I’ve been trying to figure out the connections with John the Baptist. I mean, it looks similar, but was there something else going on with him in addition to the Israel story in the wilderness?
True.
And what’s more amazing is how they had seen God among them, fighting for them, and yet their first stretch of desert, their faith falters.
That is an excellent observation and warning for us all! Thanks Nikole.
This is a great story that is so real to us today…being in the “wilderness.” I often learn my lessons while in the “wilderness” as you have stated. It’s those times later that I see that God Picked me up and carried me along. One example is when I went through depression after having a child. Great lesson here.