Wilderness
The wilderness. A lonely place, full of fear with no direction to safety. A place where all hope vanishes. Nothing makes sense. You look for stability, a safety net, an anchor. But, the world offers no peace. The wilderness causes panic, anxiety, and overwhelming thoughts.
You will not see the wilderness coming. If you did, you would change course. After all, we spend our lives doing everything to avoid the wilderness, don’t we? We try to live the American dream, a nice, safe life free from danger and risk and surrounded by the comforts of our culture.
Consequently, our kids are raised in bubbles, an unfair picture of things to come. They grow and end up following culture, filing in, staying on the path. We inadvertently teach that the game of life is a game of striving for comfort and materialism. Do we inadvertently teach them that life is about safety?
Because of our desire for comfort, we mold our beliefs into a different brand of Christianity. We create a different Jesus. A Jesus who desires our comfort in this world
With this mindset, we are not mentally or spiritually prepared for the difficult times. The wilderness blindsides us and we are shaken to the core. Only then do we look for an anchor. Only then do we tend to run to our Father.
A great example of this for me is what happened on 9/11. Our world was rocked. My world was rocked. When I showed up at church the following Sunday, we had to walk a mile to get in the building. Everyone was at church. At the most desperate point in their lives, in the wilderness, people sprinted to the church, as they were looking for solid ground.
Now, I am not saying we should not be running here. We should. We must run to Jesus when in the wilderness. I am, however, saying that we must not wait until the wilderness to run to the cross as if Jesus is some type of genie to be called upon when we need wishes granted to get us out of hard times. We must prepare for the seasons of want now.
An absolute truth in this world is that you will find yourself in the wilderness. Wilderness will come to everyone. It may take the form of money. You may lose it all. Or maybe it will manifest as sickness or death, in which case money means nothing. Wilderness might even be mental battles of stress, depression, or loneliness. No one can say what wilderness you will face, but it will happen, so I encourage you to prepare.
The best way I know to prepare for the wilderness is to pick up your Bible. Become biblically literate. Understand who God really is, not who culture says he is. Don’t shy away from the light that is found in God’s Word, for this is the only light that will guide you in the darkness of the wilderness.
The wilderness came suddenly in my life. I found myself looking around, second-guessing everything in my life. I had never been in a situation of having to lead my family when I did not know the path we would take. My wife and I were looking at an unknown future. Her faith was unwavering, but I must admit, I questioned mine. I heard my favorite pastor say one time, “If you have never doubted your faith, then I doubt you are a Christian.” Well, I can now check that box.
Even still, though, in the middle of it all, I knew that I was doubting something that was absolutely true. In fact, I would constantly tell myself that I did not want to look at this period and remember that I’d turned from my faith. I wanted to look at the wilderness and remember how I clung to God.
And I did cling to God. I had trouble praying, believing, and having faith, but I clung to my Father. Often this just looked like inwardly reciting what I knew Jesus said in Matthew 28:20: “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Biblical literacy. I can’t stress it enough. It was so important for me during the wilderness season when I had little else to work with. I thank God that He prepared me and gave me an anchor.