Wilderness

Finding Wells in the Wilderness

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. Genesis 21:19 NIV

Yesterday a post by Hope over at Patientlyhopeful struck a chord with me. As caregivers for an elderly friend whose home was lost 18 months ago in a storm, we find that our entire life is stretched. There is time for prayer, meals and church, but everything else is a great challenge. Not only writing, but any sort of spontaneous parts of our lives have been on hold for a long time. Yes, there are little windows of refreshing and opportunities. But life in general feels like a long wander in the wilderness. Thank God that the wilderness is exactly the spot where God often comes to meet us. Where we find hidden wells, and new directions. Hope’s post reminded me a bit of Hagar’s situation, and this poem came slowly came to me overnight.

Twice Rejected
 

Though she wandered in the wilderness
Cast out and left alone
Her cry was heard by One who sees
At her farthest place from home

For no green pastures grew in that place
And no quiet waters flowed
She could not see the hidden well
Till God called and came and showed

This Castaway now twice rejected
Without hope or plan or plea
Found that God who watches sparrows
Will in deserts set us free


Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. Genesis 21:19 NIV

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Down Time in the Wilderness

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. Luke 4:1-2 KJV

We missed our connecting flight in Chicago once and spent five hours till the next one was available. While my wife was happy to walk around, shop a bit and spend the day content until our flight, I shamefully stomped back and forth around the terminal repeating more times than I would like to recall, “This is stupid! I can’t believe we missed our flight!” Dealing with down time has never been my strong suit though, because God has orchestrated multiple occasions like this in my life I have learned to go with the flow far better than that day in Chicago. Did you ever wonder what Jesus did with all His “down time” during that 6 1/2 weeks in the wilderness? It is easy to fast forward through these verses to get to the action scenes with Jesus crushing Satan by the word of God and heading out of the wilderness to His ministry. But forty days and forty nights is a long time. Of course we can be pretty confident that Jesus spent many hours in prayer, but what else could he have been doing from sunup to sundown?

But maybe Jesus could leave that wilderness in power, not simply because He defeated Satan, but also because He had learned the secret of rest. He had not worried what people thought about Him back in Nazareth, He rested in God’s plan. He didn’t try to start planning the ministry that lay before Him He simply enjoyed the peace and quiet. Maybe Jesus passed time watching birds and heard His Father explain how He cared for them. Maybe He watched seeds sprouting up by a stream in that desert place and saw how tiny beginnings could grow into trees able to bear fruit for hungry travelers. When it was time for breakfast and His stomach growled like every other man’s, maybe He just quietly thanked His Father for the living bread of His word to give Him strength. We will never know till heaven the answer to all these questions but it might be instructive during our next down time, to pause and ask Jesus what He did and then ask Him how to be more like Him during our own time of waiting in the wilderness.

Facing The Wilderness

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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 4:1-2 ESV

Before Jesus began His public ministry, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be alone for forty days. Though most of us will never spend 40 days alone in the wilderness, God sometimes chooses times of isolation in our lives.

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These may be unexpected events which we could never have imagined or a sudden change in our health. But whatever the circumstance it is most important to remember that the value of our own wilderness experience lies not in what we are suffering but in what we are learning from the Holy Spirit. But no matter the testing or the wilderness, the most important thing is that in the quietness of our time alone, we learn to hear the voice of God for ourselves. Only He will lead us “not into temptation” and then maybe even tomorrow out of the wilderness and into the next chapter He has planned for our life!