The Beauty and Purpose of the Wilderness
Last week, Julie wrote a post titled "Know Your Season and Identity to Receive Your Promised Land”. She explained how God uses seasons of preparation to ready us for his plans, and how resisting, as the Israelites did in the wilderness, can prolong these seasons.
This week, we continue our discussion of wilderness seasons of preparation, focusing on biblical examples in which the season wasn't prolonged by disobedience. Wilderness seasons vary in length. A long season doesn't necessarily mean disobedience or delay. That's why it's crucial to seek the Lord about what he's doing in our lives and what he requires of us.
As a refresher from last week, everyone faces wilderness seasons—periods of struggle, scarcity, and spiritual dryness. God may seem distant, and his voice less clear. Each day can feel stagnant, with little progress.
The wilderness is difficult for us, but purposeful to God. We see hardship; God sees a proving ground. In the wilderness, he removes what isn't from him, draws us near, increases our faith, and teaches us full reliance.
Despite its isolation, the wilderness is where intimacy with God is found. He wants us to seek him there and move into the next chapter he has written for us. There he:
Prepares us for purpose
Molds us for mission
Crafts our calling
Refines us for righteousness.
Your wilderness season is bigger than you. It's about what God wants to do in and through you to advance His Kingdom. I don't recall the source, but I love this quote: “God must make the man before he makes the mission.”
Turning to scripture, there are several standout examples of what it looks like to embrace a wilderness season and transition out of it at the proper time.
Moses
Moses is arguably the greatest leader of people in history (other than Jesus). We often recall his deliverance of Israel, the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, and the giving of the Ten Commandments. But we often overlook that Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness, prepared in isolation before God called him to lead Israel.
If you recall, Moses originally wanted to save and deliver his people, but his attempt was in his own strength and resulted in murder, as illustrated in Exodus 2:11-15.
“One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian.”
God had to bring Moses to the point where he knew he could do nothing without God. The wilderness season did this. Before, Moses said, "I am ready to deliver," and killed a man. God knew he wasn't, so he refined Moses in the wilderness. Afterward, with deeper character, Moses originally resisted the call—"I am not ready, please send someone else." That's when God said, in effect, "You're ready because you know you need me."
The following scriptures highlight how Moses’s character had been refined in the wilderness and the relationship he had with God as a result of his refinement:
In Numbers 12:3 - “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.”
In Exodus 33:11 - “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
It was the wilderness season that prepared Moses to step into the call God had for him. The wilderness came BEFORE the call. Moses was not a perfect man; he still had doubts and resisted at first, but he was ultimately obedient to God’s call on his life at the right time, which led him to walk out of this wilderness season at the intended time.
John the Baptist
John the Baptist is another great example of someone who spent time in the wilderness being prepared by God before stepping into his call. John honestly spent most of his life in the wilderness, based on what we see in Luke 1:80: “And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
This verse shows the wilderness is where John drew near to God, understood his calling, grew in spirit, and began his ministry. Luke 3:2 reiterates: “During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.”
John, who spent most of his life in the desert, was the man who:
Jesus spoke of in Matthew 11:11 and said the following as it pertains to individuals before the New Covenant: “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”
Was the last of the Old Testament Prophets before Jesus came.
God broke the approximately 400-year silence that had persisted since the Old Testament Prophet Malachi.
Was used by God to fulfill the following Old Testament prophecies and announce the coming of the Messiah
Malachi 4:5-4: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
Isaiah 40:3-5: 3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
John was prepared for his calling in the wilderness and was also obedient when the Lord instructed him to begin his public ministry.
King David
King David is another example. He had a long wilderness season of preparation before stepping into his call from God. Scripture shows David spent about 13 years in the wilderness, fleeing King Saul. David’s wilderness season came AFTER God anointed him King, and AFTER he was called a man after God’s own heart, as it says in Acts 13:22, but BEFORE he was crowned and ruled.
This story shows that sometimes we already know God’s call for our lives, but there is a necessary process of preparation before stepping fully into it.
It was in the wilderness that David:
Transitioned from being known and having an identity as a giant killer to having the identity as a King
Truly learned to rely on God
Wrote a good portion of the book of Psalms
Like Moses, David was imperfect, but he sought the Lord, allowed God to work in his life, trusted God in the wilderness, and transitioned out at the right time.
Jesus
Finally, the greatest example of all when it comes to a wilderness season. The temptation of Jesus. There are a couple of critical passages to consider in this story.
Luke 3:21 says, “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 4:1-2 says, “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry”.
Luke 4:13-15 says, “And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Considering these passages, we see that:
Jesus was baptized, and his identity (call) was affirmed by God the Father BEFORE he began his public ministry.
Once he was baptized, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The fate of our salvation hinged upon Jesus’s time in the wilderness. The devil tried to get Jesus to take his eyes off of who he was and what he was called to do, but Jesus defeated every temptation because he was aligned with God the Father.
Jesus, having defeated the devil in the wilderness, immediately moved into public ministry AFTER his wilderness season, where he began performing signs, wonders, and miracles.
It should bring us comfort to know that our Lord and Savior walked through a wilderness season before moving to the next stage of his life. It is also important to note that Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness to spend time with God.
Each story above shows intense preparation in the wilderness. In every case, God was active and present there, and the individuals in the story grew in their intimacy with God. The wilderness preceded major moves of God, and in these stories, the wilderness season marked a time of transition and was not prolonged due to disobedience.
It may be painful, but God’s plans require us to be stripped of ourselves and rely on him. A wilderness season often brings us there. The times in my life when I have grown the closest to the Lord have been during wilderness seasons. Remember, this is a sign of God’s love, grace, and mercy, as well as a reminder that he has a call on your life and is preparing you for it.
Key takeaway: The wilderness, though hard, brings growth and prepares you for God’s breakthrough. Embrace it and remember—the wilderness often comes before major change.
Action Steps to Take:
Reflect on whether you are in a wilderness season right now.
If so, ask the Lord what he wants to show you and develop in you.
Seek God for a right heart and ask him for the next steps.
Praying for you all!
Prayer: Father God, I come to you right now humbly and with thanksgiving that you love me so much that you seek to prune, refine, and draw me close to you during a wilderness season. I repent and ask for your forgiveness for the times I have not walked in obedience to your will, and for the times I have not fully sought you and sought to understand what you were doing. I choose now to align with your will. Please show me my next steps so I can fully take advantage of the work you want to do in me. Thank you for being patient with me and never giving up on me. I pray all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Ryan
