“I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself fully known to them.” Ex 6:3 From a burning bush on the far side of the desert, God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and revealed himself as the I AM, a name he’d not even revealed to the patriarchs. It was in the wilderness that God appeared to Moses. “She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Ge 16:13 Hagar had run to the desert after being mistreated and rejected, but there God appeared to her. It was in the wilderness that God revealed himself to Hagar. After Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness, God sent angels to care for him. God fed Elijah meat and bread through ravens and provided safety and men for David. When God led Israel into the desert, he gave them fresh manna every morning. God also led Jesus into the wilderness.Īnd where God leads, He also provides. He led Elijah and David and Jacob into the wilderness. God led the Israelites into the wilderness. He didn’t stop paying attention or let go of us. God intentionally leads his children into the wilderness. 1) God leads His children TO the wilderness and IN the wilderness. Here are 3 truths when you’re in the wilderness. The wilderness is a place of latent fruitfulness. While our wilderness circumstances may feel emotionally or physically barren, they can be spiritually rich. When will this end?īut that focus on getting OUT of the wilderness can lead us to miss all that God has for us IN the wilderness. How long O Lord? When will you bring me through? I ask God. When I’m in a wilderness, the first thing I want is out. Maybe it’s a wilderness of deep pain - something that’s shattered life and you find yourself wandering a trail of despair and debris. Or a wilderness of waiting that, despite your prayers and pleas, continues to stretch out past your point of endurance. Maybe you’ve known that kind of wilderness.Ī wilderness of isolation where you’ve found yourself without a circle of intimate friends or without church home. “He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions.” Dt 8:15 The lease on our rental was expiring, our furniture and things were wrapped in plastic in storage and I longed for the permanence of a home of our own. I missed the familiar faces at the grocery store and running errands. I didn’t doubt God had led us to move, but the months looking for a new church, new house, new homeschool group, new swim coach, new everything had taken their toll. I’d been wandering a wilderness of isolation and waiting after we moved from a town I loved to a new large city. For the next two days, I hopped and hobbled around, painfully aware that my heart needed fixing more than my ankle. My ankle began to swell with shades of blue and purple and soon I couldn’t bear any weight on that foot. The frustration of the last ten months had come to a head and with all the patience of a 3-year-old, I took it out on the side of the tub with one quick kick.
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