Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 8:2, 2 Corinthians 12:
The original journey from Egypt to the land flowing with milk and honey should have taken the children of Israel 11 days on foot. The children of Israel, however, languished in the wilderness for 40 long years. Why would the Lord take the children of Israel through a winding, desolate, wilderness on the way to a land flowing with milk and honey? Everything God does has divine purpose.
The Wilderness Awaits
God places every Saint in a wilderness experience to serve 2 causes: 1) To test our commitment to the cross
2) To humble us
Think about the following; how do you react when you don’t get what you want? Is it with anger or resentment? Do you blame others for your misfortune? Is it the white man or the black woman that’s holding you back? You fill in the blank. It seems to always be someone else’s fault, right?
Welcome to your personal wilderness. No true Christian can escape years of trials and testing. It is God’s refining fire that every Christian will experience in some form.
The Children of Israel languished 40 long years in a barren wasteland called the wilderness. Your wilderness may be serving a well deserved sentence in a prison cell; or married to a difficult spouse; it may be dealing with a drug addicted child, living in constant poverty, or even the stress of an empty womb. The list can go on and on. And you may ask yourself, does God see, and if He sees why has He not answered?
The Testing of Commitment
In times of extreme testing that seems to go on and on, our commitment is surely being tried. Will you go the distance for Christ, or bail-out when the hairs of your head are being singed in the fire? The scripture says “My grace is sufficient for thee”. Paul asked 3 times to have his thorn removed. God refused.
Can we still love when God refuses our request, or do we revert to our Adamic (sin) nature? Can we sing “It is well with my soul” in the midnight hour? The Lord is doing a supernatural work in each of us to humble us and bring us into a new land, if we endure until the end.
Paul said it best: 2 Corinthians 12:9 and he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
So Seek His face; Turn from all wicked ways; and trust that God knows what he is doing. He never fails.
-Mark & Sherri Bryant