Forty Years

In looking at the visitors' statistics here at "Soulscape," I have found there are a few topics which are highly popular in searches, and for those topics, previous entries of this blog are ranked at or near the top in Internet search engines. By far the most popular is the study of Ecclesiastes, followed by a series on the armor of God. But third on the list is "Wilderness Experiences."

What this verifies is what I've said for years: we all have times out in the spiritual wilderness, those times in life that seem so barren and parched and there doesn't seem like there is an end in sight. In keeping with my theme for the month (all the entries increasing by ten years, i.e. twenty, thirty, and now forty), I wanted to take a look not so much at the wilderness experience itself, but the emergence from those types of experiences.

Whether it was forty days (as in the case of Noah and Jesus) or forty years (like the Israelites), the wilderness experiences we go through will eventually end. The Lord leads us through exactly what we need to get us to the place we need to be, and sometimes it takes a long time. But when that experience ends, what do we do? Most of us look forward to the day when we can put that difficult time behind us, but that is not the moment to kick back and relax. Instead it is the time to get to work even harder, and to put the lessons of the experience into practice.

In the examples I listed in the previous paragraph, we can see just how important is the work to do after the wilderness experience. We begin with Noah. After forty days of what my grandparents would call a "frog-strangler," or the deluge of rain and flood, no doubt the inhabitants of the ark were relieved and happy. But they couldn't sit back and do nothing. There was still a lot of work to do. The waters didn't recede for quite some time, and so the animals in the ark (along with the ark itself and no doubt the relationships of the people on board) still needed attention and care. Once the ark came to rest, the job was to rebuild the world and society. That was no small task. While the trial had been severe, it helped prepare Noah and his family for the struggles they would face. Life didn't end on the ark, nor was the work over once the ark stopped atop Ararat. It was just beginning.

As Jesus was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, it was to prepare Him for His ministry. While there He faced hunger both physical and spiritual. He faced temptation; like us He was forced to live by faith in the most desperate of times. Once He came out of the wilderness, it was a time to fill Himself with the food He needed, immerse Himself with the Father's presence, and go to work in the ministry of salvation.

When the Israelites finally entered the Promised Land after wandering in the wilderness for forty years, they did not have the time to take a breather, to take a vacation and enjoy the scenery. They immediately had to get to work claiming the land. There were great battles to be fought, many struggles left to overcome, but over the forty years of wandering they had grown to appreciate what was possible with the Lord. They were now ready to go in and occupy the land. And when they trusted in God and followed His guidance, they won.

These and other experiences teach us that we have a great responsibility after our wilderness experiences. There is always a temptation to kick back and relax, to kind of give up in a way or slack off. We hear a voice say, "Hey, take a break. You've earned it after all you've been through. Just take it easy for a while." But the responsibility needs to be seen. The wilderness experience was a time of preparation, getting us ready to tackle the obstacles and tasks that wait for us after the wilderness experience is over. God is there through the entire trial, and because of this He is able to help us in the job He has waiting for us.

So as I mentioned in the original "Wilderness Experience" entry, don't give up during the trial, even if it seems to take forever to escape. But once you emerge, don't stand around admiring the view. Instead look to the tasks at hand and go to work, putting the lessons you learned into practice. In this way, and in this way alone, will your wilderness experience not be in vain.

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