(1 Kings 19:1-7) Elijah went into the wilderness to die. In the wilderness is where the sifting and shifting took place to be in alignment for what was coming next. Moses had to have his priorities set in the right order before God entrusted Him with greater task. It falls short of delight of God over His children using their gifts to further His purposes in the world. The find confidence and security in his identity before God so that seeking the empty approval of man wouldn’t steer him away from his God given purpose. God wanted Moses to know who He was before God alone. He was a deliverer, but he needed to do the very thing that he he was made for, but away from the crowd, away from the affirmation of people.

In the wilderness is where Moses had that question answered and his identify secured. He was on a quest to find out who he really was. Those whom he was supposed to deliver despised him. And from the looks of things at this point in the story it appears that he hadn’t even gotten that right. God had spoken that Moses was to be a deliverer of his people. He left power, position, status and money. (Exodus 2:11-3:22) Moses fled to the wilderness leaving everything. And the name that she chooses to give God and call him from that point forward is El Roi - the One who sees me. Hagar, the oppressed Egyptian slave, forced to carry a child and Give birth, on the run and filled with contempt is the only one in all of scripture to give God a name. Yahweh, the One true God is who makes Himself known to Hagar in the wilderness. But that is who she encountered because she was seeking and searching for help. So I can’t imagine she was looking for their God. Why would she? Her masters had been unkind. She was an Egyptian and did not serve the God of her masters. She fled to the wilderness to escape her life and her troubles. She was a foreigner, a slave, a woman and she was pregnant. (Genesis 16:1-16) She ran into the wilderness with nothing. I am sharing them with you in hopes that it might do the same. My perspective began to shift as I encountered these passages. I can do so knowing that the God I read about in the pages of Scripture is still the God that fills the air in my lungs this very moment. I looked back at the biblical narrative and found a thread of wilderness stories that loosened the grip on my chest and helped me to exhale more freely. I pondered and considered the current wilderness season we are collectively and individually entering. Amidst their failures and successes I see a God at work bringing hope, light and redemption to the world. Most all of them faced challenges I will never encounter in my lifetime. As a follower of Jesus, I consistently find hope when I look back at the story of the people of God written in the Scriptures. So what to do?Īs I was faced with that very question this week I felt the urge to look back. Staying positioned under the weight of it could be detrimental. We are forced to sit with this uncomfortable reality and let the weight of it be felt. Incessantly checking our screens and reading the latest updates will not pass the time faster or change to a more favorable outcome. We are headed into the wilderness.įor how long? No one really knows. We find ourselves in a situation that has not yet presented itself in most of our lifetimes, until now.

In this time of crisis it is the right move, but no doubt, we are all feeling the grave impact in one way or another. Schools, organizations, stores and now even churches have been forced to close their doors to secure the health and safety of others. Organized sporting events for all ages have been wiped from the calendar. Plans and long awaited celebrations have been canceled. The once theoretical idea of the “wilderness” has now hit close to home. And now none of those words even begin to touch on the gravity of where we are as a nation. I knew that this topic of wilderness had been assigned to me and had even begun to write on the subject in preparation for this week. See, I am the blog manager and content developer for Joy Of It, and I have had weekly writing themes scheduled since last November. He reminded me of that this week through something as simple, yet as personal, as they very writing of this blog. I do know, and can say with confidence that this is not a surprise to God. For others, particularly those in public health and the medical field, this is not as much of a surprise. Our cities, states, nation and world are on lock down and we are retreating to our respective dwelling places alone, yet in it together.įor some of us, this seems to have arrived out of the blue, catching us off guard. “Is this really happening?”Īmidst my disbelief, it is clearly happening. I’ve had the same waking thought this past week.

Into the wilderness wow