Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you felt so confident that you were where you were supposed to be, and doing what you were supposed to be doing?  Sort of a right time, right place kind of thing. I’ll be honest with you, that is how I feel right now. However, like many of you, I have also experienced those times when I felt like I should be somewhere else—I felt discontented with either my job, my place of residence, or my church. I felt like it was the wrong place to be, or that I should be doing more or something different. Should I go back to school? Should I leave and look for something else? Some of you may have that sense with the person you are dating—should you marry? Should you break up and wait for the person God has chosen for you? Maybe you or a loved one has endured a time of illness, and you are physically unable to do the things you used to do but not sure what to do next.

I equate those times to a wilderness. Although I have not counted them myself, I read a commentary that says there are over 300 references to wilderness in the Bible. Perhaps the most well-known example is when the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt, only to wander for 40 years in the desert before finally getting to enter the Promised Land (the journey should have taken only 11 days).  Jesus spent 40 days in the desert where he was being tempted by the Devil. After Paul’s dramatic conversion on the Road to Damascus in A.D.34, it is not until A.D. 47 that he makes his first missionary journey. What did he do in that intervening time of about 13 years? Even though he was hot to trot to go on the road to preach, instead he had to hide out in Arabia for about three years, then traveled back to Damascus but had to escape, went to Jerusalem for a short time, then back home to Tarsus for his safety for about nine years. After such a wonderful conversion experience, he is seemingly stopped at every turn from doing what he feels called to do.

What happened during these wilderness experiences?

1. Israelites – They were becoming a nation of God’s people. Make no mistake, they were a difficult group to manage. It was only by God’s grace and persistence rather than their cooperation, which is why it took so long. During this time, God taught them to trust him for their daily bread, he gave them their laws and celebrations to set them apart, and he reinforced his power over their lives by fighting all their battles for them, keeping them safe from harm. Starting with the parting of the Red Sea where the Egyptians were defeated and all the way through to the Battle of Jericho where the Canaanites were defeated, God demonstrated his unmistakable sovereignty over his people.
2. Jesus – He was preparing himself for his earthly ministry. He had just been baptized by John the Baptist, and then was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry (Luke 4:1-3). Jesus had been living with his family until then, and afterward his wilderness experience, he began to teach, to heal, and to drive out demons.  
3. Paul – He was getting to know his Savior. He was a very well-educated Jew; no one knew the Bible better than he did. He would have even known all the prophecies about the coming Messiah. But until his conversion, he didn’t know Jesus. But by the time he started his missionary journeys, however, he had an intimate knowledge of Jesus, just as if he had walked and talked with Jesus like the disciples who surrounded Jesus during His time on earth.

Typically, we find our wilderness experiences uncomfortable. We may even characterize them as suffering. A big part of that misery is that we don’t know how long they are going to last and how it’s all going to turn out. If we knew that, we could probably bear most anything. But isn’t that the purpose? Every time I get through one of these times in my life, I realize that I could have handled it so much better. Rather than grumbling like the Israelites about every little thing, I should have been grateful for every little thing. I should have been fasting and praying like Jesus. I should have been reading and memorizing Scriptures and getting to know Jesus on a more personal basis to prepare myself for whatever is the next thing that God has in store for me.

I need to realize that the wilderness experiences are part of my Christian walk. Even though I don’t believe I am making progress, I believe that if I would approach these times correctly they could be some of the most rewarding and important times in my life, and I believe the same is true for you.

How do we know we are in a wilderness? The best indicator is a feeling of discontent. Is every feeling of discontent a wilderness? Probably not.  How can we know? I think when we experience this feeling, the first thing to do is to go to our knees and pray for discernment. The discontent could be because of unconfessed sin. It could even be for the lack of gratitude for how God is presently working in our lives. But if the discontent continues even after prayer, confession, and expressing gratitude, then we just might be in a wilderness experience. If so, seize it and ask God to do whatever he wants to do with you. Take Jesus’ example and fast and pray and devour the word of God so that it becomes your daily bread and your sustenance as you seek his will.  

Furthermore, this is an area where we as brothers and sisters in Christ can uphold each other with encouragement and accountability because sometimes it’s not always apparent to ourselves when we are in a wilderness. A loving and perceptive friend can be helpful. Maybe that’s why the fruits of the spirit include so many traits that are useful in these interactions: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Every one of these can be essential in overcoming a wilderness, either of our own or of someone we know.

The second and third chapters of Revelation talk about the rewards of overcoming. That’s what I believe it takes to get through a wilderness successfully–to overcome the trials and temptations that are rampant in such an experience. And as you look back from such an experience, I pray that you will realize that even in the wilderness, you were right where you were supposed to be, in the middle of God’s will, right time/right place.

My prayer for you is that you will be as the faithful church in Philadelphia, even while persevering through your own wilderness experiences, as described in Revelation 3:7-12: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens: I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.'”

In Christ,

Judy