A Way In The Wilderness

Scripture: Psalms 136:16

The Wilderness – A Transition, Not A Destination

Have you experienced the wilderness before? The wilderness I am referring to is the kind that is like a vast, barren wasteland of nothingness, where there are more signs of death than life. Like a desert. 

I have been in a desert and I did not enjoy it at all. The land was harsh and the weather was unbearable. It was the kind of environment that would reveal the best or worst in you. For me, it was the latter.

I was constantly thirsty and kept losing my temper. However, the evening brought about a different mood. The cool of the night swung me to the other end of the emotional pendulum. The better end. But it did not last and the vicious temperature cycle repeated itself the next day.

Being in the wilderness allowed me to catch a glimpse of what the people of God might have experienced during their wanderings. It may seem tough, but perhaps God puts us through it to train us. It is a place of refinement, not punishment. It is a place of transition. The wilderness is not a destination.

From the Old to the New Testament, we see how God, through the wilderness, displays His provision and protection, His guidance and deliverance, His healing and purification.

God cares for your internal well-being more than anything else. He wants you to trust Him wholeheartedly and not be easily affected by our circumstances. He wants your faith to be grounded. 

In the next 14 days, discover what God has to say about the wilderness experiences in your life, why it is important and how you can come out of it with your character shaped to be more like Jesus.  

• Are you currently going through the wilderness?  
• What do you think God is teaching you as you are in it?

It is the perseverance of our spirit that determines the outcome of our journey!

Scriptures: Genesis 11:31, Genesis 12:1-20

A Test Of Trust

Abram was supposed to set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to Canaan together with his father Terah. For some reason they settled half-way at Harran. Maybe he was ill. Maybe it was the climate. Or maybe he was fearful. We do not know.

But at the beginning of Genesis 12, the LORD called Abram to leave his father’s household to a place that God would later reveal to him. He obeyed and promptly left. This is where it gets interesting. Abram reached Canaan where the great tree of Moreh at Shechem was, but he did not settle there even though the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “To your offspring I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7). Abram continued his journey till he reached the hills east of Bethel, in between Bethel and Ai.

Abram continued his journey yet again toward the Negev. When famine struck, to save his family and livestock, Abram went to Egypt. It seemed logical and also the responsible thing to do given the severity of the famine, but going to Egypt was not what God had intended for him. 

Abram took matters into his own hands when he thought that God could not provide for him in the famine. God called Abram to Canaan, not Egypt. In Egypt, Abram failed the test of integrity when he told Pharaoh that his wife Sarai was his sister, thinking that the only way to survive was to lie.

Egypt became Abram’s wilderness when he decided to live there for a while. It cost him his integrity. Had it not been for the LORD’s intervention by inflicting serious disease on Pharaoh and his household, Abram could have been stuck in this wilderness for a long time.

In life we may experience our own “Egypt” if we take matters into our own hands. Instead, we should choose to be obedient to God’s guidance and instructions because He will make a way!     

• Describe a situation in your life you consider your “Egypt”. What did you learn? 
• Why do you think it is difficult to trust God rather than our own instincts?

Never allow your present adverse situation to undermine your future destination.

Scripture: Genesis 26:1-6

A Choice To Obey

Some years later, Abram, now known as Abraham, had a son named Isaac.

There was now another bad famine in the land. This time, Isaac went to Abimelek, the king of the Philistines in Gerar. After that he must have thought of going down to Egypt just as his father did. 

But the LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you.” 

The instructions were clear. The answer to Isaac’s situation was not in Egypt, but in God Himself. Had the LORD not stopped him, Isaac would have strayed into the wilderness. Because Isaac listened and obeyed, the hand and the blessings of God were upon him.

Sometimes God gives us clear instructions and stops us from doing things that are not according to His will. But do we really listen attentively and obey Him?

Today, learn to shift your focus towards Him and incline your ears to what He is telling you to do.   

• Reflect on the moments where you disobeyed God. What happened as a result of that disobedience?  
• How would you want to live differently from now on?

Obedience is a choice. You will never go wrong obeying God.

Scriptures: Genesis 25:19-24, Genesis 27:19-29, Genesis 32:22-30, Genesis 33:1-4

The Loss Of Control

When Isaac’s wife Rebekah was pregnant with Jacob and Esau, the LORD told her that two nations were in her womb. Even before they were born, they were already struggling for supremacy. Esau, the hunter, lived for immediate pleasures while Jacob, the quieter one, was more self-seeking.

At birth, Jacob grasped Esau’s heel and ever since then, it seemed like he never stopped trying to get ahead of his older brother. From tricking Esau into selling him his birthright to snatching his father’s patriarchal blessings, in all these Jacob was defiant. While the LORD did say, “the older will eventually serve the younger”, the LORD never said to do it Jacob’s own way.  

On the eve of meeting Esau after many years of tension, Jacob met with God and wrestled with Him. In that match, even though Jacob was hurt and defeated, he was not willing to let Him go until he received His blessing. Why was he so persistent? Perhaps he was desperate, knowing he would have to face his ultimate fear the next day when he was to meet Esau.

Jacob never found out the name of the man who dislocated his hip, but because he survived the struggle, it comforted him to know that he would have been able to withstand an attack from Esau. 

When Jacob finally met his brother, he was surprised. Esau, his most fearsome adversary, received him with open arms. It was at that moment that Jacob realized it was his own fear that made him a coward to himself.

Jacob feared losing control. He feared not getting ahead. No one was holding him back but himself. When Jacob finally surrendered to God, everything changed. Thereafter, Israel was born!

Sometimes, the fear of losing control can be the reason why we end up in the wilderness.  

• It is not wrong to want to get ahead in life, but are you doing it in a way that is pleasing to God?  
• What areas of your life can you let go of control and surrender to God?

Scriptures: Genesis 37:5-11, Genesis 39:6-20, Genesis 41:14-16, Genesis 41:39-40

The Cost Of A Dream

From a young age, Joseph believed God had destined him for greatness. He was a dreamer. But there was a problem – he was boastful about his dreams. Joseph was blessed with the gift to interpret dreams, but he lacked wisdom in knowing how to use it appropriately.

In his dreams, God showed Joseph he would rise to a position of leadership over his parents and brothers. From Joseph’s point of view, the dreams were evidence of divine blessing rather than his own ambition. But to his brothers, the dreams were a further indication of the unfair privilege Joseph enjoyed as the favorite son of their father, Jacob. Jealousy drove Joseph’s brothers to sell him to merchants who then took him to Egypt.

Joseph’s life spiraled downwards from then on. After being falsely accused of attempted rape by Potiphar’s wife, he was thrown into jail. Accused, abandoned and alone, it seemed like Joseph had been put out into the wilderness. What a far cry from the lofty dreams he initially had!

However, some dreams take longer than expected to be fulfilled. It was only in prison that his breakthrough came when he was called to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. This time, instead of telling others his dreams, he interpreted the dreams of others.

The gift that got Joseph into trouble was the very same gift that would eventually promote him to a place of influence where he was used by God for a greater purpose. 

• List the gifts that God has blessed you with. Have those gifts pushed you to excel or have they set you back? 
• Do you view setbacks as punishment or an opportunity to refine and reshape your character?

No matter where we are in life, God is constantly molding us for His divine assignment.

Scriptures: Exodus 2:11-22, Hebrews 11:24-26

A Place Of Encounter

Exodus Chapter 2 tells us that Moses went to live in Midian because he was fleeing from Pharaoh after killing an Egyptian. His misplaced sense of justice caused him to kill someone. As a result, he fled into the wilderness.

Moses spent the next forty years of his life living as a shepherd in the desert of Midian. That was the life he had settled for until the LORD caught his attention through a burning bush and gave him a second chance. That encounter would become a defining moment in his life.

Perhaps you may find yourself in a similar situation where past mistakes and wrongdoings have left you isolated in the wilderness. If you are in such a place, let the process take its course. Look beyond what has happened and be open to how God is trying to get your attention. 

God has not given up on you. Allow this time in the wilderness to become a place of encounter and repositioning towards your God-given purpose. 

• Do you believe in second chances? Why? 
• What is God doing now in your life to get your attention? Make a list and pray over them.

The wilderness does not have to be a place of isolation. It can be a place of encounter.

Scriptures: Deuteronomy 8:1-9, Isaiah 2:17, James 1:3

A Lesson In Humility

God miraculously brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. Yet for some reason the parting of the Red Sea was not enough to convince them of God’s protection and provision. Just three days into the journey to the Promised Land, the children of Israel started complaining to Moses because the water at Marah was bitter and undrinkable. From then on, the people of Israel continued to complain and disobey Moses. Because of that, the forty-day journey to the Promised Land took them forty years!

God had called Israel in complete obedience and humility. It was only through the testing in the wilderness that they came to a place of total surrender. There was nothing else or no one else they could depend on. Sometimes God tests us, not because He needs to know the condition of our hearts, but because we do. 

Your heart is the very seat of your being. The content and condition of your heart affects all the decisions you make and the life that you ultimately live. God wants you to depend on Him for all things – from your daily provision to your future endeavors.

Obedience and humility will lead you to the will of God. So learn to take small steps each day to let go of control and surrender your life in total dependence on Him today. 

• Reflect on a situation that God used to teach you humility? What did you learn from it? 
• During trials, do you find yourself quick to complain or more trusting of God?

Scriptures: 1 Samuel 17:34-35, 1 Samuel 17:41-50, 2 Corinthians 10:4

A Place Of Preparation

The stage was set. The atmosphere was thick. On the one end, the air was filled with confidence, and the other, saturated with fear. For forty days, Goliath, the Philistine, taunted the armies of Israel. He paralyzed their will to fight by his sheer size. After all, how many of us have seen a man who is nearly 10 feet tall? That is quite an unbeatable height! Moreover, Goliath was a champion warrior and David, inexperienced. Or was he?

David was the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem and he was tasked to tend his father’s sheep. Over the years, David faced his share of challenges while carrying out his duty. If there was any man that knew the wilderness, it was David. In that lonely place of obscurity, his character was shaped. He learnt what it meant to solely depend on God and to be consistently faithful in his duties.  

When David heard Goliath’s challenge against the armies of the living God, he arose indignant. He knew something had to be done. It would turn out that his wilderness experience, which was fraught with battles of killing lions and bears, had prepared him for this moment. After David’s triumph over Goliath, the Philistines ran away scared and the army of Israel pursued and decimated them.

Perhaps you feel stuck in a place that seemingly appears mundane and purposeless. Remember that you are not alone. Stay faithful. Do not lose heart. Nothing that God sets us up for is ever wasted. During such times, we need to learn to keep our heads down, our hearts right and just do the work. 

• Do you see your present situation as preparation for your future? Why? 
• What steps can you take that would help shift your perspective of the season you are in now? Commit them to prayer.

Scriptures: 1 Kings 18:36-40, 1 Kings 19:1-9, 1 Kings 19:12-13

A Refuge For Rest

Elijah had accomplished a feat of epic proportions worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster. First, he called on fire from heaven and then he killed four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. On top of that, he managed to turn the hearts of the people back to God. It was a resounding victory!

But when Jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah that she would have him killed, Elijah became so fearful that he ran for his life, first to Beersheba in Judah, then into the wilderness. At the wilderness, God ministered to Elijah with what he needed most – rest and recovery. Recharged, he traveled forty days and forty nights, covering a distance of 538 km, until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 

After spending a night in the cave at Horeb, the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He responds by lamenting to the LORD (for the second time!), telling God that he is the only faithful one left. But God did not rebuke him. Instead, He met Elijah where he was at, fears and doubts and all. Undramatic and unassuming – with a still, small voice. A gentle whisper. 

To hear a whisper, we need to lean in closely to the source. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is to intentionally slow down and replenish yourself. Rest and recovery are part of life’s rhythm. Only you know how much your body needs to recharge after an intense exertion. Neglecting to do so will inflict long-term damage to your wellbeing.

Also, very often the lows in life take place right after the highs. As we live our lives for God, we have to be watchful of this. For instance, as a pastor I could preach a great sermon and see God move amazingly during a weekend service, but the real battle is not what happens on Sunday, but rather how I respond to whatever comes my way the Monday after. We need to realize that although we are doing the work of God, we are not immune from challenges.

Elijah rested and recovered and went on to his new assignment.

The same applies to your spiritual life. To overcome challenges and be able to finish your faith journey well, you need to know when to stop, rest and recover.  

• Are there healthy rhythms of rest and recovery in your life today?   
• If not, what can you do today to intentionally include space to rest and lean into God in your daily schedule?  
• Do you often overlook God’s gentle whispers in favor of His dramatic displays in your life?

Work from our rest and not just rest from our work.

Scriptures: Jonah 1:1-4, Jonah 1:15-17, Jonah 2:1-10, Jonah 3:1-5, Jonah 4:1-4

A Lesson In Grace

God was insistent, but Jonah was reluctant, so much so that Jonah went the total opposite direction of where the LORD wanted him to go. He sailed 2500 miles west to Tarshish when God told him to go to Nineveh, which was five hundred miles east of where he was at Joppa. Jonah’s disobedience almost cost the lives of the crew he travelled with until he told them to throw him overboard into the sea.

There the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow him for three days and three nights. It was in the belly of the fish, that “wilderness”, where Jonah prayed to God. Jonah repented and was thrown back onto dry land and went on to finish his task of proclaiming the judgment of the LORD to the people of Nineveh. 

Now, Nineveh was a large city and it took three days just to go through it. The Ninevites eventually repented and believed in the LORD so He did not bring destruction upon them.

But to Jonah, this seemed wrong and he became angry. He was upset because he knew God was gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. He was so angry at God’s compassion and grace upon the Ninevites that he would rather die. 

Sometimes we find ourselves in the wilderness because of a misplaced sense of righteousness. But as servants of God, we are to obey so that ultimately His grace, and not our personal sentiment, is made evident to those we serve. 

• Have you felt a sense of injustice because of the grace and kindness of God? 
• What measures can you take to avoid falling into the trap of being overly self-righteous?

Scriptures: Matthew 4:1-4, Deuteronomy 8:1-5

A Test Of Will

Different people go through the wilderness for different reasons. Some because of their own rebellion and some by taking matters into their own hands. As for Jesus, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It was a test. A test that Jesus could potentially fail. Otherwise, it would be phoney. After all, He was fully God, yet fully man. It was necessary for Him to endure such testing so that we can relate with Him.

After fasting for forty days and forty nights, Jesus was hungry. The devil lured Him to turn stones into bread. It was not something Jesus could not do, but He was not going to succumb to the devil’s tempting. Temptations build spiritual muscles. God permits temptations to reveal if we value the eternal over the temporal.

As human beings, we are most vulnerable when our physical needs are not met. Will we be afraid? Yes, especially when our survival is threatened. The children of Israel failed this test comprehensively in the wilderness when their provision was at stake, when there was no water to be found. Was Jesus afraid? Perhaps. Jesus fought the temptation fully as a man who was hungry, tired and weak from the wilderness. Where Israel failed, Jesus succeeded. Jesus overcame temptation by using Scripture to battle the devil and that very weapon Jesus used is available to you today. 

In times of testing, we trust in God’s unchanging character. And His character is revealed to us in His word. Therefore, to overcome temptation, we must use Scripture as God’s light and truth and submit to God’s leading. When we know Him intimately, we can trust Him fully, even when it comes to our very survival! 

• Are you anxious about your daily provisions and sustenance today? Surrender your needs to God in prayer.

Jesus overcame by the Word.

Scriptures: Matthew 4:5-7, Psalms 91:11-12

The Overcoming Of Temptation

The wilderness is intense. The devil can strike blow after blow. After failing in his first attempt to tempt Jesus to sin, the devil led Jesus to the highest point of the temple and challenged Him to prove His identity as the Son of God. And he did this by quoting Psalm 91:11-12 to support his claim. “If you are the Son of God…” The devil knew the Scriptures and used it to tempt Jesus.

Doubting our identity is the devil’s go-to tactic that keeps us wandering in the wilderness, preventing us from experiencing the promises of God. If the devil could tempt Eve by sowing doubt about the tree in the middle of the garden, you can be sure he will do the same with you by planting seeds of doubt about your identity in God.

Jesus was fully secure in His identity as the Son of God. He had nothing to prove and He had full trust in what God had already said. Insecurity creeps in the moment you start to doubt who you are and find yourself needing to prove your identity.

Remember, you are not defined by what you do or by your roles, titles, achievements and failures. 

Our confidence rests in the truth that we are children of God and that God is our loving Father in Heaven! That is what gives us our identity. That is where our confidence comes from!   

• In what areas of your life do you derive the most self-worth from?  
• List a few practical steps that you can do to boost your self-worth based on what God says about you. Commit them to prayer.

Scripture: Matthew 4:8-11

A Focus On Eternity

Jesus was led into the wilderness right after a peak spiritual experience – His water baptism. In The Message of Matthew: The Kingdom of Heaven, author Michael Green explains that temptation frequently comes, and properly comes, to sort out an emotional “high” from the reality of spiritual conquest and growth. We are not meant to live on spiritual highs. We are designed to grow by the seemingly mundane regular feeding of the Word of God. 

For Jesus, the temptations were messianic. It was a test to prove how He was going to lead the people back to God. Would He choose the path of the conquering king or would He become the suffering Servant? Was Jesus going to be the slave of popular expectations or was He going to the cross to win the crown?

The devil tempted Jesus by offering Him the position of a conquering king. But there was a catch. Jesus had to first bow down and worship him. Jesus was offered a shortcut to the kingdom, but shortcuts often come with costly tradeoffs. For Jesus, His choice was of eternal consequence. 

We cannot live on spiritual highs alone, but we must learn to grow through the ordinary, day-to-day feeding of the Word of God. Jesus shows us how to attain this by focusing on the eternal and not the immediate.

There may come a time when you are offered all the riches, fame, power and splendor of this world, but by gaining the world, will you end up losing your soul? As enticing and irresistible as it is, the ends do not always justify the means.

When we reach the pinnacle of what this world has to offer, we would need to look back at what it cost us. Is it going to be at the expense of all that we value and hold dear, an expense that could prove too costly to bear? How you reach your goal is more important than the goal itself, because the process shapes and refines your character.   

• How is the health of your soul today?   
• In your pursuit of progress and success, have you also grown to be more Christ-like in character?

Scriptures: Isaiah 43:16-19, Luke 3:4-5

The Way In The Wilderness

Over the past 13 days, we have experienced the wilderness through the lenses of several characters from the bible. For our last day together, I thought it would be good to get personal. My name is Kevin and I am the Lead Pastor of Collective.

I consider myself a positive person. I am a dreamer and I get excited about the future – exploring new territories and diving head first into uncharted waters. However, some years back there was a long period of time where these were taken away from me by a series of uncertainties in my life. I came to fully understand what “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” meant in Proverbs 13:12.

I faced a series of uncertainties, which caused my confidence to slowly ebb away. It did not happen overnight, but little by little, these uncertainties ate at my soul. I fell into severe anxiety and began to lose sleep. I could only manage to get about an hour of sleep a night. Not knowing what to do, I started taking sleeping pills and from then on everything spiraled downwards.

It became very difficult for me as I had to put up a strong front to lead the church and act as though everything was alright. One of my scariest moments was when my memory became fragmented. I could not connect the sequences of many events correctly. I prayed and asked God for a breakthrough, but nothing happened.

Then one day, God spoke to me through one of the entries in an online forum. I was encouraged to focus on God and not my problems, I and invited the Holy Spirit to come and fill me once again. From that moment onwards, I prayed for the Holy Spirit to fill me every night. At first, it was tough to fall asleep without the pills, but thankfully, I experienced gradual healing from God.

Being the senior pastor, it was inevitable that my personal wilderness would eventually spill over and affect the church. We lost a lot of momentum and became inward looking due to the instability, lack of discipleship and changes in leadership. 

I desperately needed a solution, a new game plan, but I was looking for answers in the wrong places.

The answer was written plainly in Isaiah 43 – that my focus should not be on “the new thing” or “the way in the wilderness”, but on the “I AM” – the God who is gracious, compassionate, forgiving and abounding in love!

I hope the journey over the past 14 days has reaffirmed your identity in Christ and helped you discover not just a way out of your wilderness, but the Way-Maker Himself.

Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV) – You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Congratulations for completing A Way In The Wilderness. We hope you found it helpful.