Wilderness Moments

As we walk the journey of faith, it is often the case that we find ourselves in a spiritual wilderness.  Even as a wilderness may be dry and barren as in the case of a desert, or so overcome with growth and foliage that no path forward seems clear as is the case of a deep forest, so is it when we enter into a spiritual wilderness.  Maybe "enter" is the wrong word for none of us willingly walk into such a place in our spiritual journey.  It is more like we find ourselves being dropped into such a place, or, perhaps, much to our surprise led there by the Spirit.    

Jesus was a man who knew about the wilderness.  The first three gospel writers all tell us that Jesus was led by the Spirit into a geographic and spiritual wilderness immediately following His baptism in the Jordan River.  The language is more than interesting.  Matthew wrote, "...Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."  (4:1).  In an even more forceful way, Mark wrote, "...the Spirit immediately drove Him out into the wilderness."   ((1:12).  And finally, Luke wrote, "Jesus...was led by the Spirit in the wilderness..."  (4:1).  A logical conclusion is that we should not be surprised by such times in our spiritual walk and that it could speak of the intentional will of God for us in that season of our life.    

And while there might be a number of reasons for God pushing us into a spiritual season we would not choose, it is certainly true that the wilderness speaks of diminished resources upon which to depend and a time of such solitude that there is no one to give us support and presence but God Himself.  Thus, as strange as it may seen, those dry seasons in our spiritual life may be seasons of renewal that are prepared for us by God.  They can be seen as seasons in our journey in which we are drawn once again to the core reality that those who seek to walk with Christ must depend on no one else.