THE WAY OF THE WILDERNESS!

Exodus 13:17-18 TLB

So at last Pharaoh let the people go. God did not lead them through the land of the Philistines, although that was the most direct route from Egypt to the Promised Land. The reason was that God felt the people might become discouraged by having to fight their way through, even though they had left Egypt armed; he thought they might return to Egypt. Instead, God led them along a route through the Red Sea wilderness.

 

Have you ever been on a route that seems like a never-ending route, a wilderness if you will because you can’t see the woods for the trees? A journey that may look like God has either abandoned or forgotten you.

The way of wilderness is a desert experience, where believers may struggle to survive daily as financial, material, physical, or emotional burdens press on them and the flesh cries out for relief, forcing us to wait on the Lord.

The way of wilderness is the tough times that believers usually endure in discomfort and trials. The pleasant things of life may be absent or are not enjoyable, or it may just be a lack of encouragement. A “wilderness experience” is often a time of intensified temptation and spiritual attack. It can involve spiritual, financial, or emotional dryness.

The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Wilderness is a state of disorder.

Have you ever been or are right now in the wilderness? You may have but how did you handle it?

God made us several promises throughout the bible to constantly be with us and always defend us even and especially while in the wilderness according to Psalm 23:4.

Our text says God led the Israelites by the way of the wilderness. God is omnipotent! So He knew taking the Israelites through the shortest way by the seacoast would be dangerous for them.

the Lord always have and uses testing and training situations to prepare us for the destination He planned for us. We could say the way of wilderness is God’s training program for His people to go through so they can be ready to conquer their mount Sinai. So, the way of wilderness or having a “wilderness experience” is not necessarily a sign that a believer is sinning, but rather, it’s mostly a God-ordained time of testing.

Even though we all like to go by the shortest route, the Lord doesn’t always take us by that route because He knows that some of the things we would see, hear and experience would cause us to change our minds from following Him as the Israelites may have done.

The way of wilderness may last longer than we expect or can endure, just as the Israelites may have felt and were very eager to return to Egypt.

Are you by any chance at a place right now that seems like the wilderness to you? Are you thinking of returning to Egypt? God is very practical and deals with us individually and according to our nature and He will always lead us in the way that’s most appropriate for us.

The shorter route would have led them, as it does us into a lot of trouble but God in His infinite wisdom led them as He leads us the longer route while teaching us a lot of things we need to learn like character, skills, resilience, faith, and patience that are needed to run the spiritual race.

God’s way is always the best, even when it takes us through the wilderness.

God always have a destination planned for us when He allows us to go through the wilderness, the destination is mount Sinai, a symbol of the “mountaintop experience” after the wilderness way. Mankind naturally does not want to experience the wilderness because it’s an unpleasant place, we naturally want prosperity and easygoing life. But the same God who created the garden also created the wilderness. There will be times of trial and pressure. Our faith will be tested. But the God of grace will meet us even in the wilderness.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

-         Have you ever personally experienced a “wilderness season”? What made it feel like a wilderness, and how did you respond during that time?

-         Looking at your current or past wilderness experiences, what skills, character traits, or spiritual virtues do you believe God was building in you?

-         Do you recognize any “testing and training” moments in your life that were preparing you for a future assignment or mountaintop experience?

PRAYER: Father, help me to look to and depend on you to lead me to the rock that is higher than I even in the way of wilderness seasons in my life in Jesus’s name. Amen.

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