The Wilderness Chronicles: Day 3

Understanding the Wilderness

They tried to make me go to rehab but I said No, No, No (Amy Winehouse, Rehab, Back to Black)

The lyrics of that song reminds me that although something may be good for me, I don't always accept it willingly. The wilderness is an uninhabited place. It is neither comfortable nor luxurious but where you get alone with God to face your deepest fears, a rehab centre where physical, mental, spiritual and emotional crutches are taken away and God asks you to start walking.

In the wilderness, tears may be shed but then a lot of flabiness is lost as we exercise our faith. The Word of God ceases just to be something we read as something we live out. Apart from exercise, the diet in the wilderness is different, 100% organic, pure everliving Word of God, we feel it's sharpness as it divides between soul and spirit. We are stretched beyond our comfort zones, way beyond. However, the most important fact about the wilderness is that you must go in with God. Although on the surface, the wilderness might seem like a punishment but it isn't, it's a necessary pain for our development. Don't lose sight of God in the wilderness, if not we become like Cain, lost, bitter and disillusioned.

The wilderness is a place where patience is learned, there are no microwaves and no quick fixes, no rush. It's a place where new skills which are necessary for survival are learnt as we see that what we thought we had and knew don't count for much in our new environment. Here, I am learning that my all comes from God, what it means to be 100% reliant on God. My 'idols' will be toppled and God reign as King.

This wilderness has been a place where my longing for things and people become converted to a longing for God. I have chosen to lay Isaac and try to walk away. I say try because I'm not sure i've walked away yet. I have to believe that God's word is true when He says that He has plans for me and the plans are good. In the wilderness I receive instructions for the next phase, the next step, the next level.

The wilderness has it's own set of rules. Your diet is different, the language is different, values shift; the Blackberry you can't live without is of no use here. The wardrobe is different therefore your behaviour is different. In coming days, we will have an opportunity to talk to some of their wilderness experiences to enable us understand better. The wilderness is also for a season, so be encouraged, it's not going to be forever, hang in there and hold on. My prayer, "Father let your work be perfected in me."

So don't be like Ms. Winehouse, don't say no to Him when He calls and the journey continues...