Wilderness can mean a place to escape, recharge, learn, teach, and even find yourself. But today when someone tells you they’re in the wilderness, it means they’re going to a trial or tough times.
In Deuteronomy 8:1-3, God gives us four reasons he took the children of Israel through the wilderness, and he takes us there for the same reasons. The wilderness is a picture of trial and Temptations. The military calls it Boot Camp, and it’s to find the best way to get the job done.
The wilderness is a tough place to be. But this is where we are. So what happens now?
The world enough is a place of transition. So, if you’ve come from somewhere known and navigable know that stability is on the horizon. And in between is the unknown place called the wilderness. Yet through the unknown comes change.
After God deliver the Israelites from the land of slavery, they lived in toward the edge of the promised land. They left behind what they knew, and where they felt safe and moved toward a new place. One generation shifted to the next, and the new generation learn from the mistakes of the old, one generation snap 40 years, wandering the desert (the wilderness), because they would not follow God‘s ways, and kept complaining and grumbling about what they were to do. The new generation learned to listen to God and went into the Promise Land (Isreal).
The wilderness like we see as a place of struggle. But God sees it as a test. It tests our resolve to keep pressing on; our resilience under pressure.
The Israelites saw the walled cities and giant enemies, and decided that God was not to be trusted. Will he get really us through that? he probably thought. Not thinking of Him just parting the Red Sea to save them from slavery. They grew sick of the bread. God provided for them and wanted more. Were we better off without him in Egypt? They grew tired of Moses’s leadership and he grew tired of them.
What was at stake in the Wilderness was whether the Israelites could really trust God. They weren’t just moaning about misfortune. In the way at child moans about a dinner they dislike. They long for the days in Egypt being slaves. They wanted to cash off God’s oversight, and his leader (Moses) and return to what they had in Egypt.
Israelite cries in the wilderness or different from the healthy lament, than when Job and David cried out. They did so knowingly that God is just and good but the Israelites did not. While Job and David struggled to make sense of their situations. They remembered God’s promises and yearned for His deliverance. The wilderness generation, (the Israelites) Got their situation in surmountable. Instead of crying for deliverance, they wanted to walk away from God.
The Wilderness tests us. It tests whether we will trust God.
When things are especially difficult, the wilderness, call the veracity of God’s promises into question.
God makes great promises. Jesus has promised that He gives life and life in abundance. And yet the creation groans, and we follow Jesus to the cross.
What the Israelites needed, and what we need, is to remember that our circumstances are not hostile to God’s promises. What is clear in the book of Numbers is that whatever happens, God’s faithful character never changes. Nor are God’s promises altered. Things aren’t easy, but we can trust God.
Trusting God in the wilderness knee, turning to God, not against Him. It needs turning to God in prayer, not away from Him in silence. It means turning to God for spiritual nourishment, and not only to ourselves or our crutches for aid. It means turning to God through our local church leaders when we find it too hard to face God alone.
You’re the end of the Israelites will bring us experience fits a bizarre story about a foreign prophet named Balaam and his ass in Numbers 22. An enemy (Balac) hires Balaam to curse the Israelites, but Balaam has no choice but to speak only the words God gives him – just like his talking donkey. Despite their rebellion and miss trust, God blesses his people as they languish in the wilderness.
But the Israelites did not simply have to wait until the end to discover this. Near the beginning, God gives it words that promise is good for the Israelites no matter what they face. Assurance that the Lord is always with them.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. ( Numbers 6:24-26).
When the Israelites drew near to God to worship and pray, they would be strengthened with these words. When they trusted Him, He kept him safe with the Nourishment they needed. What ever happened, the nation would survive. God‘s grace would cover over their sin. If they remained faithful, they would have peace.
As the languish in the wilderness The Lord is with us by His son and Spirit. Whatever sin we have fallen into as we move through the desert wilderness, His Grace is sufficient to cover it. When we trust in Him, He will spiritually nourished us with the bread of life and living water that wells up to eternal life. He offers us and enriched, spiritual life now, and hope for everlasting comfort. When we’re anxious and weary, He hears our prayers, carries our burdens, and gives us rest and peace.
The wilderness is a tough place to be. But this is where we are today. Maybe we should start trusting Him.
From Pity to Praise 