Life in the Wilderness

“If you’ve not been there yet, you will be”, “Everyone has a wilderness”, “It’s part of growing in God” These are just a few descriptions from others about living through a “wilderness” in their relationship with God, or even in everyday life. Yes, I have journeyed through times that I would consider a wilderness. Some of these such times were traveled with grace and it was a time of learning and growth. While in other times my human nature took control with impatience and wanting to know the end result first.

Take a moment and examine this verse with me…

Deuteronomy 2:7 (NIV)

The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.

The term “wilderness” can be different for each of us. Your place of wilderness might be from an area of life that is not yet submitted to God, wilderness could be from an ongoing illness or a family member’s illness, or maybe a time when hearing God’s voice seems difficult even though we know He is still there and will never leave us or forsake us.

Wilderness does not necessarily mean we have rebelled against God as the Israelites in Deuteronomy. In the Old Testament we see David spent much time in the wilderness being prepared for a new role as king of Israel, although at the time it was unbeknownst to him. Jesus was led into the wilderness to overcome temptations. As both God and man, Jesus experienced temptations in the wilderness and defeated the enemy. In doing so Jesus became our High Priest interceding on our behalf because he experienced and overcame temptations that are common to man. Jesus understands the struggles of a wilderness journey.

Instead of focussing on the reason behind the wilderness, what can we take away from this passage about the journey through the wilderness itself?

The work of their hands were blessed. Even in the wilderness the Israelites were prosperous.
God watched over their every step. Father God knew exactly where they were, where they were going, and where they had been.
In the wilderness the Children of Israel lacked nothing. God provided a place for them to dwell, food and drink not just for their survival but for their to be health, and leadership so they could live in unity.

Regardless of what brought us to the wilderness, we can trust that just as the Children of Israel were blessed, watched over and provided for during their wilderness journey so are we! When the end of this wilderness journey comes we will look back and see God was leading us and guiding us day and night.

Written By: Carlie Venkler

Friends call me Carlie, my husband calls me Sweetie and our children call me Mom. I enjoy sharing God's precious words with others through blogs and journaling. If you enjoyed this devotion feel free to read more at carlievenkler.wordpress.com