Coming Through the Wilderness

Coming Through the Wilderness

Job 42:10 “And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” NKJV

Testing’s, trials, “wilderness experiences” are common to all people. Job is the most classic example of how someone who faced trials and testing came through. These experiences are not about how good or bad, righteous or unrighteous you are or have been. They are about proving something. God already knows. He wants YOU to know. Through the situation, Job learned and grew in his revelation of the greatness of God. Eventually, he was able to say, “I have heard of You with my ears but now my eyes see You!”

Many times you hear people talk about their wilderness experiences. Maybe we need to understand these times more fully from Gods perspective to appreciate and value them. They are a proving ground!

Moses and the children of Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness. This was not just to wait for the end of an unbelieving generation, it was to give birth to a new generation of believers.

The problem with traditional understanding of wilderness experience is that it is a “nothing” time. But it is more like being pregnant – it is not wasted time – it is forming something with in you. That something has been conceived in the mind of God since before time began and He needs you to carry that to full-term and to bring it to birth at the right time!

Jesus submitted to the wilderness experience and he came out in the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul had a God encounter on the road to Damascus and he heard God speak to him then went out to the desert for 13 years. He came out and wrote over half the New Testament. Deal with weaknesses and failures in the wilderness then come out and live the life for which you were saved.

Prayer Points

1. Help me to understand God‘s provision in the trials.
2. Give me endurance through the time of testing.
3. Give me a renewed mind and revelation of his presence and power to bring me into victory.

Additional Scriptures

Personal Challenge

If you are going through – or have been through – a trial or wilderness experience, what are you learning or what did you learn? Are you missing Gods plan because you are looking for something by yourself?