Wilderness Experiences

Deuteronomy 8:2
"And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not."

We all have had our own "wilderness experiences," those times where we ran and walked and trudged through countless hours, days or years, with seemingly no end in sight. The further we traverse the wilderness, the further away the end seems to be. We ask, "Why me, Lord? What good can come from this? Could you not receive more glory by delivering me from this burden?"

When we think of a wilderness, what comes to mind? A desert, usually; miles and miles of sand, scorpions and sunburn, with nary a place to rest our weary heads, nor a drink of water to cool our souls. But what we often miss is that the wilderness has its own beauty, a beauty that is only found within the wilderness itself. Where can this beauty be found? That’s the subject of the verse above.

The wilderness experience, no matter what it might be for each individual, is for a purpose. The children of Israel, upon gaining their freedom from Egypt, turned their back on the Lord and gave into idol worship. They gave into fear and unbelieving, lacking the faith that the Lord would give them victory in their conquest of the Promised Land. God was extremely angry with the Israelites, but the wandering in the wilderness for forty years was more than a punishment for past sins. It was much more.

Deuteronomy 8:2 tells us the reason God led them through the wilderness for those many years: to humble their spirits and test their souls; to show God, and the world, what was truly in their hearts; whether loving and obeying God were really as important to them as they claimed. The true punishment for the sins of Israel was that all but Joshua and Caleb died in that wilderness, without entering the Promised Land. But their descendants had to go through the wilderness, too. God was testing them as well.

The same is true of us today. While some of what we must endure is caused by our own poor choices, much of our own wilderness experience may be the Lord doing for us what He did for Israel. No matter what we go through, if we continue to trust in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, He will continually lead us through our wilderness, never leaving or forsaking us. But through the wilderness we must go. The question is, what do we learn, and what does He learn about us, through the experience?

The Lord is trying to humble us, to get us to the place where we see past ourselves and our own selfishness and pride. It’s not about how good or bad things are for us; it is not about who does what to us. It is about the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ seeing us through.

The Lord is testing us, showing us the truth about ourselves. As we recall taking tests in school, we remember the purpose of tests: to show us and the teacher what we do know and what we don’t know. By knowing these things, we see the areas we need to spend more time focusing on and improving, so that the next test brings with it the assurance that we’ve learned and grown from the experiences of the past. Sometimes this spiritual testing reveals that we are not where we need to be, that we are not acting as a Christian should, even though we thought we were. The tests are not to be taken lightly, nor looked upon as a means of making us feel unworthy, but to show us where we can and must improve, and be more like the Christ who died for us.

The Lord wants to see what is truly in our hearts. Some of us, quite plainly, have the wrong things in our hearts. That is extremely important for two reasons. First, what is in our heart doesn’t stay there; it comes out and shows itself. Second, God is looking on the heart and judging not only our actions, but our motives. We might fool everyone, including ourselves, but God is not fooled or mocked, and when the truth is revealed about what is really in our hearts, will we be proud and will God be pleased?

Finally, our wilderness experience is one way the Lord can see if we will indeed keep His commandments. It is easy to do the right thing in front of other Christians, when things are going smoothly, when everything is falling into place. But when it gets a bit uncomfortable for us, when things are falling apart around us, when there’s nothing but desert in all directions as far as your eye can see, will we still hold to the commands of the Lord? Will we hold fast to EVERY command, even if it’s not convenient or fun?

Our wilderness experiences should not be looked upon as a source of despair and depression, but as an opportunity for the Lord to help us grow, to show us what He can do and how much He loves us. Throughout those forty years, there were desperate and worrisome times, but the Lord never once let them down. At the end of their journey, the children of Israel could look back at their progress, where they came from and where they now stood. They could see the faithfulness of God, and how He used that experience to get them exactly where they needed to be.

So, look not at your wilderness as a barren landscape, bereft of joy and hope, but instead see it for what it is: a personal meeting with the Lord for your good and His glory. Don’t let your wilderness defeat you. Remember that tests can be failed, but if we learn the lessons of humility, testing, motives of the heart and obedience, our wilderness will not overcome us, but we will overcome our wilderness.

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