The wilderness season can be an unnerving and uncomfortable experience. It can involve some intense spiritual strength training- walking into the unknown, undoing false beliefs, waiting on promises and more.
God is faithful to provide even in the wilderness, but it often feels like you’re barely getting by and definitely not thriving.
When you’re going through the wilderness, you’ll find yourself asking when it will ever end. And unfortunately, that isn’t up to us to decide. Only God knows how long the wilderness will last in order to serve its purpose in helping you mature and prepare for something new.
In the wilderness, God gives us what we need to survive.
Living in the wilderness season is a lot like camping. Comforts are stripped away and you’re left with the bare necessities. It’s not glamorous or always enjoyable, but it’s strangely possible to still be content.
When the presence of God becomes real to you amidst confusion and darkness, something begins to shift inside. Your tastes and desires start to change. The things that you thought you needed to be happy and safe no longer seem so dependable or satisfying.
You come to realize that just being with Jesus is enough.
“He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’” Deu 8:16-17
Just like the Israelites on their wilderness journey, God invites each of us to depend more on him in the wilderness. This is the way that leads to the kind of deeply loving relationship with him that we long for.
Learning to let go and trust God is a lot easier said than done, though. It takes a continuous cycle of revelation and surrender that nobody graduates from.
Here are a few things I’ve found helpful in disheartening moments in the wilderness:
Remember the vision
When you’re feeling worn out in the wilderness, it’s easy to lose sight of the “why”. But there truly is so much transformation that happens in the wilderness that’s linked to your purpose. You have to remind yourself of the visions, dreams, and desires God’s place in your heart.
What are the encounters, Bible verses and prophetic words that have been pivotal to your faith journey? I keep a list of them on my phone that I read through when I’m feeling discouraged. It can really help rekindle your faith in who God is and who he created you to be.
Hold onto the promises
God tests your faith in the wilderness, and this often comes in the form of confronting lies. Jesus gave us the perfect example of how to reject those lies when he battled the enemy in the wilderness. He spoke the truthful words of God to defeat the lies.
So pay attention when your mind gets preoccupied with the situations around you and you start to question if God can be trusted. Then it’s time to rediscover and hold onto his promises. A few of my favorite verses of promise have been Psa 91:1, John 10:10, Isa 35:1, and Jer 29:11. Ask Holy Spirit for scripture you can hold onto in the moments of doubt and fear.
Renew your strength
The wilderness can be exhausting if you try to muscle through in your own strength. Woven into the season is an invitation to discover a different, much better source of inner peace and resilience. It’s here that the gift of the Holy Spirit becomes more vital and personal than ever before.
One of the key things God’s taught me in the wilderness is how to truly rest in him. This includes embracing physical rest and practices like the Sabbath, as well as silence and solitude and contemplative prayer. I believe so much of this is part of the new way of living Jesus speaks of in the Gospels. And it just so happens that he teaches it to us especially through the wilderness season.
God doesn’t lead you into the wilderness and expect you to get through it all on your own. He is faithful to provide the necessities while also creating opportunities to learn how to live more dependent on and interconnected with him.
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 nine koepfer on Unsplash.
