Out of the Wilderness

Wilderness. When you think of that word, what are some of the things that you visualize and or feel? Dry, lonely, wandering, a lack of resources, a tiresome place, a season of testing? Ah yes, all good things, right? BLECK! No thank you. But yet...I have found myself treasuring and finding myself in a place of gratitude when I am in the wilderness. I am now just coming out of a wilderness season, and man...let me tell you it's been beautiful. Now you might be reading this thinking, "Ariana has lost her marbles, how on earth can she say that she's enjoyed it!?" Ok ok ok hold on, I didn't say I enjoyed it peeps, but I did say that I found myself grateful! Why? Because the Lord showed Himself in a completely different way to me, and it's been a wild ride in the hot sand. In the New Testament which was written in Greek, the word most often translated as "wilderness" is eremos or eremia, which is an isolated place. Is that you today? Are you feeling isolated and in a place of discomfort? I feel you, my friend. But let me remind you what I've read time and time again in the word, God ALWAYS showed up and in quite a creative and powerful way in the wilderness. The wilderness was a perfect place for God to display His presence and provision. For example, He was a pillar of fire at night, a pillar of cloud by day, water bursting forth from a rock, yes a rock you heard me, a burning bush, manna to eat; the list goes on. Here me out friends, God didn't bring you into the wilderness to suffer, no, He brought you there to teach you, to awaken you in the desert, to expose you and the things that need to be pruned from your hearts and minds.

I think of David in the Bible, he wrote many laments in Psalms, to simplify, he was very passionate and full of expression when he was having a bad day. For example, Psalm 13:3, "Take a good look at me, Yahweh, my God, and answer me! Breathe your life into my spirit, Bright light to my eyes in this pitch-black darkness or I will sleep the sleep of death." OK DAVID....dramatic much? But on the real, how many of you can relate to this? Pretty sure we all can, there have been so many times I've whispered under my breath, "today is not the day, and I am not the one!" Can I get an amen up in here?! Now, I know that the wilderness isn't comfortable, and there is a certain struggle that comes with it. Case and point, Jesus in the wilderness...forty days and nights of fasting and being completely isolated, I can't even begin to fathom! And then as soon as he's done, the devil comes to tempt him with as much temptation as he can muster, but what doesn't Jesus do? He doesn't falter in giving in, He uses Scripture against the devil and basically tells him to take a hike. That right there is proof enough for me to know that no matter how tough my wilderness may be, the Lord has called, equipped, and prepared me to withstand and persevere through it into His promises for me. Phew, what a security and reassurance that is. I say these things not to make light of whatever wilderness you yourself are going through right now, but to encourage you to keep going.

As I stated above, I just came out of a wilderness experience spiritually; or as I like to call it, a hibernation of sorts. For about a year I have been a wallflower, healing from some things that I went through, allowing myself to be still instead of doing doing doing all the time. It was a different sort of wilderness, but I can tell you I was stripped of many things that my heart held dear, and it was crushing to my being. I felt like a part of me was torn from me and there was nothing I could do but wait for the mending. But it was also a season of trusting, a no reservation kind of trusting, a when all is stripped away will you still trust kinda trust. I remember feeling the crushing weight of it all, yet still had many tell me how encouraged they were by what I was going through and how I was handling it. Let me tell you, I felt like the conductor for the hot mess express okay? Yet...in my suffering, He was getting the glory, and what an honor it was and is for me to know that. You see my friends, the Lord's love knows no bounds, and that love follows us in the wilderness. David wrote about it in Psalms 136:16, "He led his people through the wilderness! His tender love for us continues on forever!" And in Psalms 107:35-36, "But he also can turn a barren wilderness into an oasis with water! He can make springs flow into desert lands and turn them into fertile valleys so that cities spring up, and he gives it all to those who are hungry." How hungry and thirsty are you today? Just when I thought that I couldn't move another step, He came to me with a cold glass of water, the one with the sonic ice *because He knows* and said, "because you were faithful in the wilderness, and you continued to sing of your love for me, even when you didn't feel like it, I'm here to bring you to the oasis." *I'm not crying...you're crying* I know it's late, and maybe you are reading this in the middle of the day, or early in the morning with your coffee, but for me, it's nearing 1 am, I know shocker....why would I write at a normal hour? But truly, if you are reading this, I hope you are encouraged, I hope that you truly know you aren't alone in this and that there will be an oasis waiting for you to be refreshed after this journey. The Lord is so faithful to bring you through and out of the wilderness, and into His promises. That's what He has done for me, and has continued to do. So trust me when I say, keep going, you will be walking into the promises, and seeing the evidence of His goodness to you. Out of the wilderness and into His promises.