Wilderness Seasons

The wilderness. It’s never enjoyable. But as someone who has just wandered around in one, I understand its importance. If you find yourself in a wilderness today, I want to offer you some encouragement and perspective.

Most of us are familiar with the story of Moses. In short, God raised up an unqualified man to lead his people out of a life of slavery. However, due to disbelief and complaining, it took them forty years for a trip that should have taken less than two weeks.

Early in the story when God is commissioning Moses through the burning bush, Moses asks God by what name should he refer to him when he addresses the Israelites.

God’s response is “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14).

The thing that I love about I AM is that it is both miraculous and mysterious. The use of the verb “am” in this sentence is a state of being. Of existence. Of transcendence. But how can our human minds put to words what this simple two-word sentence declares? He is above our human comprehension. It should inspire both fear and security. Even in your wilderness season, you have access to the one who exists beyond the limits of time and space.

Further in the passage, once God has freed the Israelites, he “did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, ‘The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.’ So he led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness” (13:17-18).

Did you get that? God could have dished out the Fast Pass to the Promised Land. But, that wasn’t what was best. Oftentimes we find ourselves in desert experiences because, as painful as it is, it’s what is best. There are several things worth noting in this particular passage:

• God doesn’t always do what is logical. Remember, he is transcendent and he understands things on a level we do not. But the beauty of the irrational is that God gets to be the only explanation when we reach the other side, ultimately bringing him glory.
• The journey is often way more important than the destination itself. I HATE a wilderness season. But I also know I’ve never been able to handle a destination without it. It refines us in a way so as to prepares us for what’s next.
• God knew that if they went straight to the Promised Land, they would lack the preparation to stand up to the enemy, and they would change their minds and return to their old oppressors, to slavery, to habits that needed to be left behind. I’m convinced that many of our destinations would scare the pants off of us if God took us right to them. There’s refining that happens in our wilderness season that allows us to properly fulfill the role God has prepared for us.
• He led the people toward the Red Sea. If they had taken the speed rail to Canaan, they would have missed the miracle of the Red Sea, not only showcasing the power of the Almighty God they followed, but also receiving a powerful visual of their past life swallowed up by the crushing weight of cascading water. Their old life put to death.

As they continued forward on their journey, “The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so they could travel day or night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people” (13:20-22).

He was constantly guiding them. He’s constantly guiding us. Are we looking for that direction or are we distracted by our unfavorable circumstances?

Now, I know much of the Israelites’ story involve complaining in the wilderness for such a long time! But maybe we should learn a lesson in that too. Can we train ourselves to offer God a “sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13:15) even in our wilderness seasons?

I’m not sure what desert you might find yourself in today, but know that I AM, the God that overshadows it all, the God who is both transcendent and immanent is with you. He’s the one who speaks in the miraculous, unusual burning flame in a bush. He’s the one who goes before in a cloud by day and fire by night to light our way. He’s the God who takes us on the illogical, long winding road instead of the direct route because he knows what’s best and he knows that sometimes the direct route will make us too fearful and cause us to return to our old ways of slavery and oppression through destructive habits. He wants this detour to include the miraculous, sometimes in the transformation of our own hearts.

Hopefully when you make it to the other side, you will realize that your wilderness journey was the treasure. I look back on the pain of my own wilderness experience, and thank God for what he taught me in that season. Most of life’s golden lessons are learned in the holding patterns, the ashes, and the brokenness. But if you will let him, he will cause that pressure to transform your heart of coal.