Coming through the Wilderness
Job 42:10 And the Lord restored Jobs losses when he prayed for his friends.
Testing/trials/wilderness experiences are common to all people. Job is the most classic example of someone who faced trials/testing and 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 the value of 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 experiences, is that it is a “nothing” time. But it is more like being pregnant – it’s not wasted time – it is FORMING something within 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 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 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.