6 For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD; the LORD swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the LORD had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Have you ever felt like you were walking through your own type of wilderness? One contributor to the Desiring God ministry writes that “the wilderness can cultivate in us that quality so beneficial to living faith: desperation”. When life is comfortable, we can sometimes go through the motions, and give lip-service. In these times, we might find ourselves replacing our personal devotions with things like sleep, or something else we enjoy. He writes, “We live as if sin no longer crouches at the door and Satan has ceased to prowl. We become careless with that one part of us we cannot afford to lose: our soul.”
Desperation we sometimes encounter in the wilderness on the other hand can lead us to seek God like never before. If we learn from the wilderness, we will certainly grow. If we seek God in the wildness, I believe we will learn more of who God is, and that He really does love us. Finally, we will “enjoy God’s gifts, not abuse them; delight in them, not put their hope in them; bless God for them, not forget him in them.”
By: Marcus Steury
Quotes from Scott Hubbard, “God Awakens Us In the Wilderness”, www.desiringgod.org
