Wilderness

The Wilderness Experience (Part VI)

Leave a Comment / Humility, Patience, Pride, Purpose, Wilderness / By

In the last few devotionals, I shared about the life of Moses, Joseph, and Jesus and their wilderness experiences. In each of their lives, their wilderness journey had a different purpose.

In the case of Moses, the Lord had to break Moses’ pride and natural strength and to teach him to rely on Him fully. Moses experienced his own wilderness before he could lead the Israelites through their wilderness for forty years! He was being prepared to represent the Lord before Gods’ people, and he had to be shaped through humility, consistency, and perseverance in the wilderness.

As for Joseph’s life, although he was loved dearly by his natural father, Jacob’s love was not enough to fulfill God’s plan for his life! Joseph learned to lean into the Lord when he was all alone, and he had no earthly love to draw upon.  It was during this time that God gave him more than a dream but gave him interpretation to others’ dreams that opened the door to his destiny!

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. Luke 4:13-14

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15

Jesus did not go into the wilderness because he had any sins or weaknesses in His life.  Instead, the fasting and the wilderness experience allowed Him to come out full of power for what he was going to experience for the next three years of His life! He was being prepared for what was coming ahead as He was going to suffer on the cross for the sins of the world! He was also tempted in the wilderness in order to identify with our frailty and to be fully qualified as the High priest to intercede on our behalf  before the Father. He remained strong and courageous when all the powers of hell broke lose against Him. He resisted every temptation and allowed the Lord to do His perfect will through His life!

What is beautiful and amazing about the stories of Moses, Joseph, and Jesus is that they were all gracious and forgiving towards those who mistreated them and falsely accused them! The wilderness had taught them to give up their rights to their own plans and to have a resolve for God’s will! They were willing to be the vessel that God wanted them to be in order to be used for the benefit of others! In the case of Jesus, His forgiveness opened the door for the entire humanity to have a chance to be saved from hell and darkness! The Bible shows us that many of God’s people experienced wilderness in their lives, and the Lord used the wilderness for His own purpose and for the benefit of His people.

If we are truly honest with ourselves thriving in the wilderness is a tough process! Many yearn to change the world but struggle greatly to allow the flesh to fully die in the wilderness! Why is wilderness so distasteful to most of us? Because there is nothing there to keep us busy or distracted. It’s boring! It feels like it will never end. We can’t set goals or make any progress. We are not in control! We don’t know what to do with ourselves, and we get fidgety looking around to get our hands busy with something. Our main focus becomes how to get out of the wilderness!

The wilderness experience is supposed to shape us for God’s glory and purpose! However, it is also full of temptations! Hence, it requires our attention, courage, and patience to be able to successfully persevere through it until such a time that the Lord gets us out of it! We don’t know how the Lord is going to do it, but we know that He is faithful and He will do it in time as we cooperate with Him!

 

 

The Wilderness Experience (Part IV)

1 Comment / Injustice, Integrity, Wilderness / By

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.  And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.  So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Genesis 39:1-6

So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused. Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Genesis 39:19-21

Joseph became a successful man in Egypt and Potiphar allowed him to be the overseer of his entire household. Joseph had earned the trust of his master and was given authority over everything that his master owned. The scripture never tells us that Joseph had selfish ambitions or had some personal agenda that led him to perform well for his master. If it was up to Joseph, most likely, he would have remained in that position for years to come and would have been happy to serve his master.

Joseph’s success at Potiphar’s house could have looked like achieving all that God had for him. However, the story wasn’t over. Although, Joseph had not fully recovered from his last wilderness experience, he was about to enter another one! Potiphar’s wife lied about him and told her husband that Joseph made advances towards her. Joseph was completely innocent, and out of reverence for God, he had rejected the woman’s advances towards him! On the surface, it all seemed unfair, but the Lord had bigger plans for Joseph’s life. He again used the unjust circumstances to allow Joseph to move out of his good position!

When we are thrown into wilderness and are faced with unjust circumstances, sometimes the perpetrators and the loss we experienced becomes the main focus.  Facing unjust circumstances is a tough process to go through, but the longer we hold on to the injustice, the more it will make us miserable and bitter. It will also take longer for the Lord to do His work and make us more like Him! We must find the Lord in the midst of wilderness and continue to follow the true North!

Joseph was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, but that didn’t stop him from being a man of integrity and working hard for the prison guard. How do you handle your disappointments? Do you only work hard when you are getting what you want out of it? Are you only performing well when the boss gives you kudos? Are you able to give your best when you are treated unfairly? Sometimes, we cannot control getting into a wilderness, but we can choose to respond in the manner that brings glory to God and blesses those around us! The Lord knows how to get us out of the wilderness. Our job is to trust Him and allow Him to develop the character of Christ in us in the midst of it.

The Wilderness Experience (Part III)

Leave a Comment / Identity, Wilderness / By

But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father. So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.  Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. Genesis 37:21-24

So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.  Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. Genesis 37:26-28

Joseph was the favored child of his father Israel, and to show his great love towards him, his father had given him a tunic of many colors.  In addition, Joseph was given big prophetic dreams by the Lord, but they were not appreciated by his brothers when he shared it with them. He was also assigned the unpleasant task of reporting about his brothers to his father when they were out in the field working. All these issues caused jealousy in the heart of Joseph’s brothers, so they came up with a plan to eliminate him! Joseph had no idea that his life was about to change forever.  He was no longer going to rely on his father’s favor or wealth for his wellbeing, and neither could his father protect him from his brothers.

The first thing the brothers did was to strip him of his tunic of many colors before they threw him in the pit in the midst of wilderness. The tunic was a reminder of Joseph’s identity as his father’s favorite. Since the brothers despised their fathers’ affection towards Joseph, they wanted to ensure that they were stripping him of his specialness.  Interestingly, when they lied about Joseph to their father and what had happened to him, they acted as if they were not sure if the bloodstained tunic belonged to Joesph!

The wilderness is the place where our identity will come into question. The enemy knows the believers’ identity, so he attempts to strip it and make believers question their identity. In the case of Joseph, he was his father’s favorite, but the Lord also had big plans for his life! The brothers thought they can thwart Joesph’s future by keeping him at a distance from their natural father. However, God had a bigger plan for Joseph that was not going to be fulfilled by just remaining in his father’s house as his favorite! Joseph had growing up to do, and part of that growing up was for his identity to be established in his relationship to his heavenly Father rather than his earthly father.

There are many Christians who hold on to some of their past as part of their identity. For example, if the parents adored them as a child, they expect to be spoiled in the Kingdom of God. Others had their identity tied to their education or position in the past, and they still want to hold on to that identity to avoid feeling insignificant without it. There are those who had a protector when growing up, and they do not want to lose that special relationship because they feel secure having these individuals around. Hence, they remain in ungodly ties because of what those relationships provide for them. All these types of carnal identities keep us bound to the past. God wants us to be freed from them, so we can grow in full maturity and fruitfulness that He intended for us.

In order for Joseph to come into the position that God had ordained for him, the Lord had to take him out of his familiar surroundings and remove his loving earthly relationships. This would allow him to fully rely on the Lord and to grow in wisdom, favor, and insight. His earthly father was no longer his protector or his provider, but it was the Lord who would guide him and provide for him.

Similarly, some believers enter the wilderness for God’s greater purpose to grow them in His ways and to teach them to depend on the Lord for security and identity. However, some stay there longer than necessary. They argue with God and struggle because they are not willing to embrace the change and allow God to forge their character in unexpected ways that does not make sense to their natural mind.  They keep looking back to what they used to have instead of embracing what God wants to do in their lives now.

How are you responding to your wilderness? Is it causing frustration, anger, and bitterness? Do you feel like a victim of circumstances, family, or friends? Or do you see the Lord using this to grow you and enlarge your capacity? Are you able to remain faithful and peaceful in the midst of your wilderness?

The Wilderness Experience (Part I)

Leave a Comment / Fear of punishment, Relationships, Wilderness / By

If you have walked with the Lord for any length of time, sooner or later, you’ll find yourself in some sort of wilderness experience! The Bible is full of examples of God’s people who experienced wilderness in their lives. However, not all wilderness experiences are alike for there are different reasons as to why God’s people go through them. In the next few devotionals, I will share some stories from the Bible and why the individuals or people groups experienced wilderness in their lives.

Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.  And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”

Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. Exodus 2:11-15

And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. Acts 2:22

Moses was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter when his mother put him in a basket and send him off in the river bank to save him from getting killed. Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him in Pharaoh’s quarters. Moses was trained by the best and was educated in all that there was to know in that time period. However, when he saw the injustices towards his Hebrew brothers, Moses became angry and acted out of his emotion. In his desire and zeal to help his people, he killed an Egyptian man for mistreating one of his Hebrew brothers. The next day, he realized that his own Jewish people did not appreciate him murdering an Egyptian, and neither did they recognize him as a man of authority in their lives!

Moses could not identify with Pharaoh’s version of royalty, and neither could he connect to his Hebrew brothers appropriately. God had put a burden on Moses’ heart for his countrymen, but the Lord had not given him the instruction to do anything about it. His impulsive action brought about a major shift in Moses’ life! When Moses ran ahead of God, it led to sin, broken relationships, and fear of punishment causing him to flee into wilderness!

Sometimes God puts a burden or a dream on our hearts. This could be related to our own personal lives or it could be in regards to an issue or a people group. We believe something has to be done and the issue needs to be corrected. But we don’t have clarity on how to fix it. If we allow our zeal to compel us to run ahead of God’s direction, it will lead us into a wilderness experience. The wilderness is the place that the Lord will deal with our pride, and He will help us to come face to face with Him.

After murdering the Egyptian, Moses fled to Midian. There he married the daughter of the Midian priest, and he became a shepherd tending his father-in-law’s flock in the back of the desert for decades to come. God still had a plan for Moses’ life, but, first, He had to bring him to a position of humility and dependency on Him.

Are you currently burdened with a situation that needs to be addressed? Do you have clarity from the Lord on to how to approach the problem? The Lord has a plan, trust Him and wait on His timing. If He wants you to do something about it, He will instruct you and will you direction.