Walking with Him in the Wilderness

"It is in the wilderness experience that God shapes us into the people He desires us to become."

Have you ever felt like you were wandering around in the wilderness? That God has left you? That He has abandoned you or turned His face from you?

I would stretch to say that most of us have felt this way; that most of us have traveled through the wilderness at one time or another. For many of us, this wilderness experience is only temporary. Maybe a couple of days. But for some of us, this experience could be months or even last as long as years.

In my own life, I've truly felt like I have been in the wilderness for quite some time. And honestly, I don't know why I have been there. Sometimes I think that Christ has put me in this season of being in the wilderness, and sometimes I think that I have put myself here by my own selfish desires.

In this wilderness experience, I have been experiencing a lot of brokenness. Relationships are ending. Struggles are increasing. I've often felt so lonely, discouraged, and mentally unstable. Currently, I am struggling with anxiety. I am also struggling with depression. Before, it was manageable but now it seems like such an effort to work through. Not only that, I also feel like I don't have Him. While my head says that I am saved by His blood, my heart does not believe it. When will I finally come to grips with my faith in Christ? Am I even His? These are the questions that my heart is truly wrestling with.

The wilderness is such a hard place to be; for any of us who are walking through it. Throughout all of this, my mind tells me that it wants the wilderness experience to be over. How many of us like walking through discomfort and hardship? How many of us like walking through the wilderness? I would assume that no one likes to be in the season of being in the wilderness. Personally, I would much rather go through life with joy that abounds, peace that calms, and hope that secures.

In this season, I don't feel like I have any of this. As you know, I don't feel like I even have Him. Though my biggest prayer to God is that He will keep me in this wilderness I am journeying through, only if He shows me more of who He is and only if He is truly refining me through the fire and the hardships.

Have you ever wondered why the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years? Why would God make His people go through the wilderness? I'm not entirely sure. While I may not have that answer, I know that He was trying to show them something. He desires to teach us something in the journey. He desires to teach us something in the wilderness.

Friends, life is hard. And it's not going to get any easier. We may not be in the wilderness for all of our lives, but we still will fall into sin and struggles along the way. However, We must believe that He is calling us to something greater. Something far beyond what we could ever see or imagine. My encouragement to you today, is that you would not lose hope... but that you would truly see that He walks beside you in this wilderness.

Embrace the wilderness. You will spend the sweetest time with the Lord through it. Hold onto hope, dear friends. I promise that He walks beside you. Remember that He does not leave you and that He is shaping you and sanctifying you.