Brought Into The Wilderness

By a show of hands, who wants to go into the wilderness?  There’s not a lot of takers on this one.  

No one enjoys the wilderness.  Who, in their right mind, would volunteer for this?  It is most often viewed as a lost cause, a last resort.  Most of the time when we encounter a wilderness season, we are quick to blame the devil, and yet, even the scripture tells us that the Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness.  If you are familiar with the Bible, you may, also, remember that the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years.

The negative connotation of the word “wilderness” causes most of us to shy as far away as possible from a wilderness excursion.  For most of us, a trip into the wilderness is not on our bucket lists.  But don’t be so quick to curse the wilderness and what happened to cause this crisis.  You may find yourself in the wilderness, not because the devil is against you, but because God is for you.  The wilderness is not necessarily a waste.  Is there anything good that can come out of the wilderness?

Consider this, could there be times when God leads us into a wilderness season?

Hosea is an Old Testament prophet that has a short book in your Bible, that you may not even be aware of, or familiar with.  Though he is considered a Minor Prophet, there are some major messages to be found in his book.  One, in particular, is found in the second chapter, verses 14 and 15.

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.  And I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.  Hosea 2:14-15

God says that He will allure her, or entice her into the wilderness, but, also, take note of what is found there.  Vineyards, a door of hope, and a song, the song of her youth, that song which she thought was gone forever, that song which she thought had died, found in the wilderness that she was led to by God.

Life happened!  Now layers created by weeks, months, and maybe years, of disappointment, disillusionment, discouragement, hurt, pain, betrayal, regret, frustration — this wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.  I didn’t agree to this.  This is not where I belong.

Regret and loss of those things we had when we were young is a powerful thing.  We often think that the song we used to sing has disappeared and that we no longer feel capable of singing it.  The melody that we carried while we were young is only a distant memory.  But take heart, the song is still there, the melody is still alive, but it may require a wilderness season for you to hear it again.

Look — and listen — carefully!

What is that you’re seeing and hearing?

Could that possibly be a door of hope in your wilderness?  Could that be a song in your wilderness?  Is that the dream you once had?  Is that the passion that once possessed you?  Is that the song that you used to sing when you were young?

Verse 15 — God said she would sing there in the wilderness, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came out of Egypt, or bondage.  

Too often, we feel that we are too bad, too blemished, too broken, too damaged, too old, or too far gone, but let me remind you, God is a God of restoration, refinement, and redemption, and a God that can restart and revive those things thought to be dead.

Be careful when you find yourself in the wilderness, or a crisis season, that you don’t criticize and condemn what has happened to you, for it may be, it just may be, that in that very wilderness season you find your door of hope and you find your song.

Still Believing!