ARE YOU IN A WILDERNESS, Pt 4, No. 516
ARE YOU IN A WILDERNESS?
Part 4
“Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?”
(Song of Songs 8:5).
- GOD MAKES A WAY FOR HIS PEOPLE IN THE WILDERNESS
Can you see no way out of your difficulties? It’s easy to get lost in the wilderness. There are no road signs, but keep trusting God. He will make a way for you. Isaiah 43:19 is a promise for you: “I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Do you believe God’s words? It is impossible for Him to lie. Thank Him that He will make a way for you and remember that His way is always better than your way.
- GOD PROVED HIS PEOPLE IN THE WILDERNESS
Deuteronomy 8:2: “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.”
Our wilderness experience is a test to see what is really in our hearts. This is a good thing, because God is always leading us on to higher things. His purpose is to conform us to the image of His Son. He doesn’t want us to stay in our rut of sin, doubt, unbelief, and ignorance of His ways. He brings us into the wilderness to show us His ways.
- GOD SHOWED MERCY TO HIS PEOPLE IN THE WILDERNESS
Nehemiah 9:19 tells us that He revealed His “manifold mercies” to them.
- GOD KEPT HIS PEOPLE SAFE IN THE WILDERNESS
Ezekiel 34:25 tells us that “they shall dwell safely in the wilderness.” We are always safer with God in the wilderness than in the midst of comfort without God. The safest place on earth is in the will of God.
- GOD PREPARES US FOR HIS PURPOSES IN THE WILDERNESS
It was in the wilderness, the deepest part of the desert, that Moses had an encounter with God. He stood on holy ground in the desert. God kept him in that wilderness for 40 long years, but he came out ready to deliver a nation from the tyranny of Egypt (Acts 7:30-38).
David was forced into the desert to hide from the wrath of King Saul, but while in that desert he raised an army of men and came forth in God’s time as a king, prepared to reign over all Israel (2 Samuel 5;3).
John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming of the Lord in the wilderness. (Mark 1:1-7; Luke 1:15-17 and v 80).
After Paul’s conversion, he went into seclusion—into the desert of Arabia, where he met with God and heard “unspeakable words” (2 Corinthians 12:1-7 and Galatians 1:17). From his wilderness experience he came forth to fulfil his destiny and be the mighty apostle to the Gentiles.
Sometimes you feel like you are in a wilderness as you are hidden away in your home. Be encouraged, God is preparing you. He is anointing you to prepare your children to come forth to fulfil the destiny God has for them.
- GOD PREPARES US FOR BATTLE IN THE WILDERNESS
Exodus 13:18 tell us: “But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.” The NLT says they went forth “like an army ready for battle.”
The word “harnessed” is chamush and means “able-bodied soldiers, armed men, equipped.” In the other three passages in the Bible where this word is used it is translated “armed men.” But where did the Israelites get their weapons? They were slaves and under the hard bondage of the Pharaoh. Some commentators believe they went forth in an organized way, at least looking like an army. I am sure that while waiting to be set free as God sent the plagues upon Egypt that Moses and the elders planned their exit, right down to the very last detail. The NKJV says they went out in “orderly ranks.”
Exodus 12:37 tells us that 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children came out of Egypt. Most commentators believe that would have been about 2. 5 million people. To tell you the truth, I believe it could have been more the way the Bible says they were populating in Egypt (Exodus 1:7-12). Perhaps three to five million? It must have been an incredible sight.
I am sure they stripped the bodies of the slain Egyptians for weapons after they drowned in the Red Sea. They faced a battle with Amalekites soon after which they won with the help of God. However, they were not yet ready to conquer the land of Canaan. They were new out of slavery. They were still fearful and bowed down in spirit. They had to learn to trust God.
Read how their fear and unbelief kept them from entering the Promised Land for another 40 years—and then only two of them got in! (Numbers 13 and 14). The next generation had to be trained for the big battle ahead.
We are also in a fight against the powers of darkness. In the wilderness God teaches us to be strong and courageous and how to fight the enemy His way, not our own way.
PRAYER:
“Thank you, dear Father, for showing me that I need the wilderness to prepare me for what You have ahead for me. I need the wilderness to learn how to fight against the enemy. Amen.”
AFFIRMATION:
I will not reject it but embrace my wilderness experience.
FURTHER STUDY:
David’s preparation in the wilderness:
1 Samuel 22:2; 23:14-15, 24:1; 26:3; and 1 Chronicles 12:1-15.