Walking In The Wilderness — Morning Devotions

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Walking through our own wildernesses

Hundreds of people go hiking in the bush, and sadly a few are never heard of again.
Back in 2014 Shannon Leah Fraser from Queensland was at a swimming hole south
of Cairns with her fiancé and some friends. She had an argument and stormed off
into the nearby bush. She was lost and volunteers spent a total of 800 hours
searching for her.

Seventeen days later she found her way back to the swimming hole. She was
severely sunburned and had lost 16kg of weight. A farmer found her and rushed
Leah to Innisfail hospital. She had got lost in the mountains and lost all sense of
direction. But she survived to tell of her frightening wilderness experience.
When I read the New Testament I see that on one occasion Jesus spent 40 days in
the wilderness, eating nothing, but I assume he had water. He was alone in a very
dangerous wilderness area in the Judean desert – cold nights and blistering hot
days, wild animals, probably dangerous snakes. It’s difficult to imagine what it was
like.

Out there all alone, the only person to help Him was the Holy Spirit who strengthened
and sustained Him. The devil did all he could to destroy Him with fierce temptations
and doubts because Jesus was just starting out on His three-year ministry journey
after being baptised in the Jordan river.
Have you been through a wilderness journey? I don’t mean being out in the bush –
but maybe a personal experience you’d rather forget. A sickness or unexpected
illness, some bad news. Life went from bad to worse, and you felt no one really
understood how you felt. I think it’s amazing how the bad times can sharpen our
focus.

While we would not want these bad times to come, often something good comes out
of them – if we are patient enough to wait. We may not like them, but we become
aware of ourselves in a new way. Our mind is better focused – Christianity offers you
hope because God Himself can help you take stock of important matters.
What is my life purpose? What is God trying to say to me? Do I need to change my
attitude from negativity to positivity?

Don’t let yourself get sidetracked, even if life seems a mess at the moment. God is
the God of the possible – He can do all things for you. There is no limit to His
faithfulness, goodness, and power. We go about building our own plans and
sometimes forget about the Master Builder who knows the future. He says to cast all
your worries and concerns on Him. The wilderness days do have a purpose.
Focus your attention on Him and embrace the difficulties as best you can. You can’t
sugar-coat life really – and for each of us there will be moments of hardness and
pain. I know that for myself with cancer in 2019. It came as a huge shock, but I had to
journey through it as many thousands have.

The Old Testament tells us the story of the children of Israel who literally wandered in
the wilderness for 40 years – homeless and without hope. About 250 miles from
Israel – but they were in a mess in the Sinai desert. But it took them that long to be
re-educated. I know – a long time. A whole generation had to wait until the entry into
the promised land Israel.

But God never left them. He protected and led them, ungrateful as they were. They
were led by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. God never left
this group even though they had rejected Him. Today, the same God who encircled
this large group of people, watches over you and me. If you’re stuck in a wilderness
experience, He is still there caring and watching out for you.

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The Bible is not blind to the sufferings of people. The apostle Paul told the Corinthian
church, “We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life
itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the death sentence” (2 Cor 1:8-9).
Christian author Paul Miller wrote an excellent book called A Loving Life and in it he
admits, ‘As I prayed, God re-shaped my soul’. And that can happen to you as well.
Spending time with God in prayer gives you a new way of looking at life. The
wilderness is not a nice place – but it can be the place of restoration and new plans.
When you do finally leave the wilderness, you won’t be the same person.
Someone said, “The work God does in you then is preparing for what’s on the other
side”. You may feel confused, vulnerable, and unprotected – but join the Psalmist
who declared to God, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm
119:105). Let God take you into new circumstances, because the strange twists and
turns of life will make sense one day, even if not in your life time.

Do you believe God has a plan for your life? He won’t take you into the wilderness
without a reason. Take to heart the promise of Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear; for I am
with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I
will uphold you with my righteous right hand”