Wilderness: an uncultivated, uninhabited and inhospitable region. A wasteland. (Thanks, Google).
Wilderness: when you graduate from the university of your dreams, you have a dozen (literally) internships and job experiences before graduating... and you still don't have a job upon graduation. You seek. You apply. You don't find. "But, God, didn't You say if I ask then I shall receive? God, didn't you say if I do the Lord's work, I'll get the desires of my heart? GOD, didn't you say You'd never leave me nor forsake me?!" We've all been in a wilderness, whether you realized it or not. You're in a pinch in your finances (see tithing post). You're looking for a job or internship. You're single and wanting your future spouse to find you (def another post). You're looking for a way out of a rock and a hard place. The thing about the wilderness is that you often don't see it coming, but it hits you like a ton of bricks when it comes. It's as if you're riding through the Sonoran desert on a party bus and you're suddenly dumped on the side of the road without food or water for [insert number of days]. Ouch. Still not getting the wilderness concept? Wildernesses are seasons in our lives when we feel as if we've reached our wits end. We feel neglected. Naked. Scared. Crippled. Wildernesses are times when you think God has forsaken you. "GOD, didn't you say You'd never leave me nor forsake me?" He sure did. In a book called It's Not What You Think by Jefferson Bethke (great read, highly recommend), I was introduced to the concept of a wilderness... and then I went through one. Thanks for the heads up, Holy Spirit. Either way, Bethke describes the wilderness as a desolate yet beautiful time. We are LURED into the wilderness by God -- and He's also the One Who brings us out. We grow closer to God in our wilderness because He's the only Power that can sustain us in that time. When we are meandering through our wilderness, God is the only Light that can lead us out of it. "But, Lauren, why would God lure me to a place that makes me feel lost and deserted?" God, as our Creator, wants us to need Him. He wants us to see how beautiful our lives are when we are out of our comfort zones and completely dependent upon Him. He wants us to see that He will fill the voids in our lives if we seek Him wholeheartedly -- even in the midst of a dry season. How often do you seek God if everything in your life is going perfectly? Rewind to my job dilemma. It's a longer story (tell ya later), but I had to be lured into that wilderness. I've trusted God to provide for me, and I've given Him the glory for the amazing things I was able to achieve in college. But at that point in my life (mind you, it was just a few months ago), I thought the work experiences I'd had were enough to get me the glitzy job in [insert city]. LAUREN's resume was spotless, and her references were incredible. But I wasn't getting calls back. I wasn't getting any bites from the jobs I wanted. I had to get to the end of myself - the end of what LAUREN was capable of doing herself - so that I could be sat down in my wilderness and see God in all His glory, all that He is able to do without any of my help whatsoever. I knew I wasn't going to settle for job offers in roles that didn't align with my career plans - those are the oases in the cartoons that the character hallucinates seeing after walking dehydrated in the heat for so long. You know the one with the flowing water and palm tree for shade. They're simply there to tempt you and see if you'll give in to less than what you know God has for you! Y'all, Jesus was tempted in the desert by the devil (Matthew 4) after not eating or drinking for 40 DAYS. I recognize we're not Jesus, but the awesome thing about Christ is that He lived as human flesh, so He knows exactly how we feel when we go through things, when our emotions start firing (another blog post), when we don't have what we (think we) need to survive. All God wants you to do in your wilderness is trust the process. You've heard them say "can't make diamonds without pressure," but what we really should think of is that God's perfect plan for your life can't come to fruition without you surrendering (there's that word again) it all to Him and trusting that He's going to get you through it and bring you to what HE has planned for you. Those plans are to prosper and not harm you, plans for a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). When I first read John 1:3, I thought it was crazy. Consider it PURE JOY, when you face trials of many kinds? Pure joy? I'm miserable, man! But nah - read the next two verses. "Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance FINISH ITS WORK so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing." Don't rush your wilderness, y'all. When it says you're lacking nothing, after you go through your wilderness, you're not lacking faith. You're not lacking patience. You're not lacking determination and perseverance. You're not lacking the tenacity it takes to get through life. We know Jesus' grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9) - we lack NOTHING if we recognize we can rest in His Grace. He told us to take heart because He has already overcome the world! (John 16:33) So amazing. I know I'm speaking broadly here, but from this year's election (pardon my partisan) to the tests of your spirit your friends or coworkers put you through, there are going to be so many things that you just don't understand in this life. "God, why I gotta go through this? I thought I showed You I love You and trust You already!" But the more you practice letting go and letting God, the more you let Him take the wheel and steer you in the direction in which you should go, the easier it is to go from faith to faith and get through your next wilderness or your next test/trial. God is omnipotent and omniscient, which are just two high school vocab words that tell us He is all powerful and everywhere all the time. When we recognize that He is right there watching us and waiting for us to grab His righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10), that's when we learn to appreciate the wilderness and learn from all that its barrenness has truly brought us. Prayer: Father God, please guide me in this wilderness and let me be led by You and You alone. Please let Your good and perfect will be done in my life and allow me to see this wilderness as a time to grow closer to You. I trust You in this process because I know that after this season, I'll be more mature and complete in You. You are the bread of life and my sustainer! Thank you for molding and growing me so that I can have more perserverance and more faith. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Y'all are awesome! I love you! - L
2 Comments
12/14/2016 08:45:31 pm
Amazing! So profound! Thank you for this much needed encouragement! Blessings!
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