For the Lord your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness.
Deuteronomy 2:7
A season not acknowledged by many Christians or even worse, a season that not every Christian has even heard of, but the make-or-break season every child of God will have to face. A season designed to free each of us from the familiarity of our worldly lifestyle and sinful comforts.
A Wilderness season can cause a great deal of inner conflict and frustration since God feels absent in our life and circumstances, which may cause us to fall back into the sinful nature of our pasts, but God is never absent, He is a Father teaching His son or daughter how to start living a life of purpose and walking every step in FAITH.
What Is The Wilderness?
The Wilderness is a place where God tests, humbles, strengthens, and refines His children. It is a season in our spiritual growth journey where circumstances are so overwhelming that, we feel emotionally and spiritually exhausted and in some of our stories, we even feel trapped and lost, but this is not because God is angry or disappointed at His children, the Wilderness season is exactly what we need as Christians to come to a place where we are so reliant on God’s grace and providence.
If God’s purpose for our lives were known easily from the start, we would have lost our faith in a blink of an eye, because we as humans, get bored so quickly. Therefor, God has designed the significant journey of a wandering season, to help us find our purpose while seeking our Father with all our hearts and to teach each of His children about His undevoted intention in keeping His promise made in Jeremiah 29:11 – “For He knows the plans He has for us…. Plans to prosper us and not harm us, plans to give us hope and a future”.
How Do We Know We Are In A Wilderness Season?
You will end up in the wilderness more times than you think. This is not a one-stop destination. Being taught by God and allowing ourselves to be guided by His will and knowledge, is something we as Christians usually end up rebellion against. One of the main purposes of The Wilderness is to train, strengthen and prepare us for a new move in God’s grand plan, equipping each of us with the spiritual maturity we need to move with Him into a promise and to ensure we as His Children become more fruitful.
But…
God’s children are destroyed from a lack of knowledge, because when we enter The Wilderness we panic and behave unwisely. Without understanding that we are refined with fire and temptation and sometimes even spiritual dryness (James 1:2-5), we tend to search for, and even do, the wrong things. Drastic and radical moves will not bring the happiness we think it will, because if we search for an escape route before understanding why God has brought us to the place of dryness, we unwittingly will prolong our Wilderness season.
So What Is The True Purpose?
To grow in some way that will make me better equipped to follow and serve Jesus and to have a strong and intimate relationship with God, our Father.
In Matthew 4: Jesus was led into the Wilderness by The Holy Spirit, to fast, pray and overcome the temptations of Satan. This was not because Jesus was being punished or because He was fleeing from the Jews, but because before His anointed ministry could start and His calling could reach its breakthrough, He had to be strengthened in His spirit and in His relationship with God. He had to align Himself with the will of God and depend on Gods Word for what was about to happen. That is why scripture teaches us that: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4
The perfect example from our Savior about what the Wilderness season is supposed to be. To teach us to be less depended on the material reality of our lives and become more aware of the faith and spiritual reliance we are supposed to have in God’s true character as Sovereign Father. A reminder taught by us in Isaiah 41:13 – “For He is the Lord, our God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear, He will help you.”
To sustain your relationship with God and survive The Wilderness Season, be persisted in prayer and seek God with all your heart, because God is true to His word and He will reveal Himself to those who seek Him. This season is not meant to break or destroy you, but to teach you of God’s mercy and grace and His willingness to be part of your life every step of the way, if only you would surrender to His will.
Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will make a way in the wilderness and a river in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19