When you’re in the wilderness season, you often find yourself wrestling with big questions.
Who really am I?
What’s God’s will for my life?
What’s my purpose in the wilderness?
The answers to these questions aren’t often clear-cut, but I want to share a bit of what I’ve learned about purpose in the wilderness season that may help you.
Let’s talk about purpose.
Your purpose is a beautiful gift that Jesus wants to help you unwrap and enjoy.
He has a whole new way of living he’s eager to teach you, so you can partner with him in bringing heaven on earth.
As you begin this journey, Jesus invites you to discover who you are as a child of God.
This new identity allows you to walk boldly in your purpose. Knowing who you are and whose you are unlocks a kind of freedom and confidence that changes things. And as you taste and see how good this reality can be, you quickly become more willing to dive deeper.
At times God brings you through an unexpected season of excavation to release things that are getting in the way of walking further in your purpose.
It’s in this moment that you enter the wilderness.
Why is that? Here are a few of the reasons the wilderness is linked to your purpose:
You’re called to the wilderness on purpose
Here’s the thing. You can’t bypass the wilderness, so don’t even try (but believe me, we all still try 😂).
If you’re actively following Jesus, sooner or later he’ll lead you into the wilderness.
It’s part of the discipleship cycle that not even Jesus skipped. Mark 1:9-14 recounts a bit of Jesus’ wilderness experience:
“And a voice from heaven said, ‘You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.’ The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness.” Mark 1:11-12
As you begin to draw closer to God, he starts to affirm your true identity. He may even give you glimpses of new adventures and assignments he wants to take you on. But just like Jesus, Moses, David, Elijah, and many other heroes of the faith, we must walk through wilderness to live out the purposes God has for us.
You’re called to the wilderness with a purpose
One of the biggest lies of the wilderness is that it's punishment.
But that's just not true. No matter how bleak it looks or intense it becomes, the wilderness is never punishment.
God leads you there not to abandon you, but to draw you closer to him. It’s in the wilderness, where life is stripped back and barren, that you’re invited to depend on God more than you have before.
Your faith and trust “muscles” are stimulated in the wilderness in order to grow. Sadly they don’t grow much when life is smooth or extremely busy.
When you start to view the wilderness as a place meant for your good, you can embrace all it offers you. There are invaluable lessons, moments of connection and opportunities for growth God wants you to experience in the wilderness.
This is where you see up close the resurrection power of Jesus in your own life. When you allow Jesus into the brokenness, you make space for him to heal and renew you. And it’s amazing to watch the areas of your life that seem empty and lifeless start to bloom.
You’re called to the wilderness for your purpose
Want to know a secret? You often can’t move forward in God’s plans without going through the wilderness.
Something happens there that’s not possible anywhere else.
It may just look like an unhelpful detour, but the wilderness season is actually an essential part of the spiritual journey. It takes you through a necessary process, though not always pretty or painless, to strengthen and equip you for what’s ahead.
And that’s the purpose of the wilderness: transformation.
Who you are when you enter the wilderness will not be who you are when you leave. Before you enter into that new assignment or chapter of life, Jesus wants to help you prepare so you’re fruitful when you get there.
There’s purpose in the wilderness, and it’s leading you deeper into your purpose in the Kingdom.
It can be uncomfortable and unnerving to surrender to this process. Knowing that it’s no accident, but instead an intentional step in your journey with Jesus can bring some peace.
If you're looking for a way to process your wilderness season experience, I created some free journal prompts to help you find clarity. Click here to download.
Photo by Kawê Rodrigues on Unsplash
