By the Way of the Wilderness

Have you ever set your destination in the maps app on your phone and then ended up on a long and winding journey that didn’t seem to be taking you in the right direction?  Once I was trying to find the nearest Walmart but ended up at a row of empty warehouses in the middle of nowhere!  Putting our trust in someone (or something) else to lead us doesn’t always work out the way we had planned.

Consider the story of God’s people leaving slavery in Egypt as found in the book of Exodus chapter 13, verses 17-18 (ESV):  When Pharoah let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near.  For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But God led the people round by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.”

The story unfolds that this detour, “by the way of the wilderness,” tacked 40 years onto their journey to the Promised Land, when in reality, it was a journey of only a few days!  But God was the One leading them, not some mindless GPS, and He had good reason for the delay.  Daniel McGregor writes, “It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the Israelites’ wilderness experience to biblical history.  The wilderness wandering was the formative experience for the Israelites, repeatedly referenced throughout Scripture.  From the time in the wilderness came the Law, a way of worship, and a culture distinct from their neighbours.”

Basically, the “wilderness wandering” years were used by God to shape the identity of the Israelite nation, and He was willing to invest a lot of time into that!  Through their experiences in the wilderness, the people of Israel learned who they were, who God was, and how to be in relationship with Him through worship, obedience, and dependency.  All along God knew exactly where He was taking them.  He knew what He had planned for them, and that it was very good.  But in the meantime, he was fashioning them to be His People.  He knew what lay ahead of them and what needed to be developed within them so they could live in victory and purpose.

Can you see any parallels between their wilderness experience and your own life?  Has God ever taken you “the long way around” when the shortest path looked much easier?  When we seem to be heading out into the desert, we often ask questions like, “What have I done wrong?” or “What can I do to get out of this mess?”  We often approach the wilderness in our lives as if we are being punished or attacked.

This was certainly my perspective when I found myself in a lonely 3-year wilderness period after our family moved to California.  I fretted and moaned and complained and sulked and fretted some more.  I was generally miserable for months on end, certain that God had abandoned me.  But then, quite beautifully, He revealed Himself right in the middle of my wilderness, and I became aware that He was using it to shape me in ways that were impossible otherwise.  My wilderness accomplished for me many of the same things the Israelites learned: a sense of my own identity and God’s and also how to partner with Him so that I could flourish in life.

During that season, I came across this verse that I have treasured ever since: “Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.” (Hosea 2:14)  And that is exactly what He did.  Through His kindness in my wilderness detour, I learned to trust His heart for me at a much greater level.  Now, when I look back over my life, that brutal, desolate season of loneliness and heartbreak stands out like a radiant jewel because of all that God accomplished in me in those days.

In Isaiah 55:8-11 (NIV), we read these words from God: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

For all of us, there will be times when the way to reach our Promised Land looks nothing like what we had hoped for.  And yet, God’s ways are always higher and better and greater.  He knows the plans He has for us, and they are always good.  These are the truths we must remember when we find ourselves out on a lonely road, in the middle of the desert, wondering if we would do better as a slave back in Egypt.

Allow me to share just one more thought.  Isn’t it also possible that ALL of this earthly life is a wilderness season?!  We are strangers in this land.  This is not our home.  We are in a season of our eternal lives in which God is shaping us and preparing us for our true Promised Land where we will rule and reign with Him forever.  Keeping this in mind can help us with our perspective, posture, and even expectations as we face the highs and lows, twists and turns of our earthly life.

A Prayer:

Lord God, please help me to look for You in every place where I find myself, especially in the wilderness!  And please grant me patience, endurance, and the ability to carry hope into every situation, trusting that You know what You are doing with me and that it is GOOD.  

In Jesus Name, Amen.