I am in the wilderness. Both literally
and spiritually. The literal part will be remedied soon as we head
off to a new adventure, in a more civilized location than where I
have been for a few years now. It's kind of scary, after being in the
boonies, to be heading towards a place that actually has more people
than deer but we will adjust.
Spiritually speaking though, is another
matter. Most people would suggest many things to me, indeed many
have, that this is because of my leaving Christianity and that I have
become godless. That’s not the case, as this blog post should show,
I have more trust and understanding of God than I have ever had in my
life so I don't hardly think the argument holds. Instead I would
propose another reason for it. Have you ever considered that there
might be a blessing to be had in the wilderness? Or that God sends us
to the desert to rest for a while?
God took the children of Israel out of
the land of Egypt and out of physical bondage and brought them to the
desert, the wilderness. Later on, He met with them at Mt. Sinai, in
the wilderness and gives them His commandments and He established His
covenant with them. Their time in the desert was actually quite short
when they were heading to the promised land the first time. The next
time it took them 40 years but still it turned out to be a blessing.
Go look at the 23rd chapter
of Numbers. This is where king Balak is so afraid of the Israelites
that he calls on Balaam, the prophet, to curse them, hoping that with
a curse he could destroy them. It didn't work. First off God would
not allow for Balaam to curse them. Instead, he wound up blessing
them. These are a people who have just recently been informed that
they are going to be wandering for 40 years until all of them over
the age of 20 die. They are despondent and depressed, yet when
someone else tries to hit them with a curse they are given a blessing
instead.
Forty years go by and all but the two
spies who wanted to go into Canaan are dead. The generation that has
arisen has had to depend on God for everything during the 40 years of
wandering. Their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet swell
and He fed them and gave them water, this was a group of people who
had wandered in the wilderness and came out all the stronger for it
with a complete dependence and confidence in God. When the time came
and the order went out to go into the promised land they didn't
hesitate and thus the land of Canaan became the land of Israel. More
blessings.
Then there is Elijah. This was a man
who was quite familiar with living in the wilderness. Elijah tells
Ahab the king that there wasn't going to be any rain or dew without
his say so (see I kings 17:1-6) and God tells him then to go live out
in the wilderness where he would be fed by the ravens and drink water
from a wadi. Now it doesn't say how long he was there but the drought
itself was three years long and he stayed until the wadi dried up and
God sent him elsewhere. My guess is that during that time he was
resting, God told him where to go but didn't tell him to do anything
so I can only assume that he rested. Later on, after destroying the
priests of Baal, he is quite literally running for his life and heads
out into the desert (see chapter 19) and he winds up resting and
being fed by and angel until he had strength to move on. He then
spend 40 more days in the desert before God told him what he needed
to do.
Most of the time when we think of
spiritual deserts we think of negative things, like a lack of faith
or belief and some times it may be that, but I truly believe, based
on my own experience and what I have just shared with you that
sometimes that’s where you can receive the most blessing and rest.
So, if you are in the wilderness
yourself just remember that the ravens are going to feed you, God
will provide Manna and water, you will find rest and the promised
land is just up ahead.