Wilderness

“The Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.”

Mark 1:12-13

Wilderness.

Have you been lost in the backwoods of life’s curveballs?

The wilderness was most certainly a place in scripture. It is where Moses encountered God. The Israelites wandered in it. John preached from it. Jesus was driven, fasted, and endured it.

The wilderness is a place you have visited too—even if you’ve never toured the holy lands.

Wilderness wandering is a rite of passage for the human experience.

You wade into the wilderness when your momma dies. You stroll through it on the way home from your last day of work with a pink slip in your pocket. Life feels like a one way ticket to the wilderness when the divorce papers are signed; when the doctor calls; and when you have a knock out drag down fight with your dear friend. Wilderness wandering is parenting teenagers and it is teens surviving parents.

Much of life is a walk through the wilderness. It is a longing for meaning, a pondering of purpose, and the nagging question from your gut: “There has to be more than this, right?”

It has always comforted me that Jesus spent some time in the wilderness. It makes him real and puts human flesh on his divine bones.

But, what I’m less comfortable with is learning that Jesus was thrust into the wilderness (right after his baptism) by the Holy Spirit. Yup, the Holy Spirit was driving the ship that sat Jesus right in front of the Tempter.

I thought the Holy Spirit was the helper, right?

It is too far of a leap to say that every wilderness you find yourself in is because the Holy Spirit has driven you there. But… neither can you claim that the Holy Spirit only leads you to still waters where butterflies flutter and songbirds sing.

A theology of wilderness declares that God uses the rough times. God makes lemonade. It may not always be God leading that takes you into the wilderness. But God can and does use the wilderness to grow, mature, and develop you.

Dr. Everett, one of my seminary professors, counted the acronym WIGIAT. This made up word is shorthand for a faithful question to ask whenever you find yourself in the back 90 of God’s terrestrial landfill.

The wilderness question is: Where Is God In All This?

God is working. He is redeeming or teaching. He is making things right or granting time and energy until things are made right. God does not abandon you. Ever. But especially not in your time of need.

God IS working. You can know this for certain. And, knowing this for certain offers at least 2 blessings:

1. Knowing He is working breeds confidence—not in you but in Him. There is a growing sense that there is a way out of the wilds.
2. Knowing He is working opens your eyes to look for where He is working. Just the simple act of looking for His handiwork lifts your head to see beyond your misery, even if just for a moment.

Are you in the thick of the thicket? Where Is God In All This? He is somewhere. And He is working. Always.

What was an important lesson you learned while you wandered into the wilderness?