Listen:
Consider:
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” Romans 5:3-5 (NLT)
Abraham, Moses, Israel, Jesus…being led into the wilderness is a regular part of life with God. I grew up in a Christian sub-culture of society where things like prosperity Gospel was the norm. Spiritual success was measured by not suffering, and having material abundance. But my spiritual walk took me on the journey of ministering cross-culturally in Native America, brushing shoulders with different expressions of Christian faith where my Orthodoxy was being expanded. Living by faith, trusting God for provision, trying to hear His voice and follow His leading – it was a testing ground, seminary, and garden for the Fruit of the Spirit to grow in my life. It turned out to be a place of character development and hope – where my heart ended up becoming alive in love.
Author and Professor Howard Macey once wrote, “The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.”
So, in God’s mercy, He leads us into this frontier – this wilderness – where we learn to trust in Him.
I began my song with the stanza:
Have You brought me here
Among these rocks and thorns
Listening for the voice that I long to hear
Because this song was written in (and for) the wilderness.
Reflect:
Have you experienced times like this in your life? What are some of the lessons that you have learned in the wilderness?