Embracing the wilderness

Hos 2:14 ~ And I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly and to her heart...

More than ever I am hearing God’s people crying that they are experiencing a time in their lives that are dry and desperate.  Although there are areas in their lives where they are truly experiencing the abundance and overflow of the goodness of God in their lives, there are also areas where they have lack.  Lack in their finances, lack in ministry opportunities, lack in the support or love of their spouse and loves ones.  This often leads to frustration and even confusion where they start to question God about the absence of His hand in their lives.  This is what we refer to as THE WILDERNESS SEASON.

Moses was a great leader of the Bible and after studying his life one comes to realize that there was not a man in the whole of the Bible and bible history that lived a more intense wilderness life than him.

Moses was raised by Farao’s daughter since he was a little baby of 3 months.  And the Bible tells us in Acts 7:22 that when Moses came to the age of forty years he was mighty in deeds and mighty in speech.  He was THE PRINCE OF EGYPT. He had all the privileges and authority of a prince in Egypt.  It then came into his heart (God put it there) to “help” his people, the Israelites and he killed an Egyptian who abused an Israelite.  He thought that his people would praise him for it, but they rejected him and shame drove him to the wilderness.

In all his might  he could not be used by God.  There was too much of the Prince of Egypt for God to use him.  For the next forty years Moses spend his time in the wilderness tending to the sheep of his father-in-law.  After forty years God appeared to Moses with an assignment.

Act 7:30-34  And forty years being fulfilled to him, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai in a flame of fire in a bush.   And seeing it, Moses marveled at the sight. And as he drew near to see, the voice of the Lord came to him:  saying, "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." But Moses trembled and dared not look. Then the Lord said to him, "Loosen the sandal on your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."  "I have seen, the affliction of My people in Egypt, and I have heard their groan; and I came down to pluck them out. And now come, I will send you into Egypt."

But the Moses of forty years ago was not the Prince of Egypt anymore.  He could not use his influence, power or might to change the destiny of his people.  So Moses answered God:

Exo 4:10  And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent or a man of words, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and have a heavy and awkward tongue.

Finally!   This was the man Moses God could use!  The man who became a nobody;  a man that was not looked upon with honor, who was not mighty in deeds nor words. A man so broken by the wilderness that even his tongue changed from mighty to heavy and awkward. He was not a Prince anymore, but a mere shepherd, a servant to a foreign people.  So God answered:

Exo 4:11-12  And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?  Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say.

God does not share His glory.  If Moses saved his people by his own influence and by the might he had in Egypt, God’s name would not be heard of by the neighboring countries (Joshua 2). 

God’s greatest honor is that we would lean on Him and not lean on our own strengths and abilities.

Pro 3:5  Trust in the Lord  with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding.

Jer 17:5  Thus says the Lord: Cursed [with great evil] is the strong man who trusts in and relies on frail man, making weak [human] flesh his arm, and whose mind and heart turn aside from the Lord.

This scripture says it all, for when we do not trust or lean on God, our hearts are turned away from Him.  God wants to absorb, abduct our whole hearts.  He wants us to abide in Him and He fully in us.  His love for us is the reason He draws us into the wilderness seasons.

Hos 2:14 ~ And I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly and to her heart...

He is a lovesick God who chases after His bride with an eagerness.  Who wants to consume her whole being.  The faithfulness of the Bride’s heart is most important to God.  He will go through extreme measures to keep her heart affectionate towards Him, because His affections are so fiery in love towards her.

Are you going through a wilderness season right now – know this. . . . .You have captured the heart of God

Son 4:9  You have ravished my heart and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride; you have ravished my heart and given me courage with one look from your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

 and He is teaching you to lean on Him, because only He is the only one who is able to sustain you.  Not your riches, not your might, power of authority.  Only Him.  Only He can bring you true joy and fulfillment.

Son 8:5  Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved?

It is the one who surrendered all to Him, who chooses to lean on God.  The one who realizes that nothing else matters, but the things of Him.

You can pray this prayer with me:

Dear God, I choose to surrender all and lean on you.  I do not want to struggle on my own anymore.  I am tired and weary and this place of wilderness has been hard on me.  I pray that it will become the place where I meet you, a place where you and I can share intimacies, a place where I can get to know you.  Speak to my heart, and make Yourself known to Me.  Let the things that matter to You become a yearning in my heart so that I can react on it.  Let me experience your love on a deeper level than ever before and let my heart respond to that love.  Thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who surrendered His life for Me.  Come and touch me Lord, I want to lean on You.

Amen

Jessica vd Walt
Power of Love Ministries