Finding God in the Wilderness
When we’re stuck in the wilderness, it’s easy to feel like we’re wandering aimlessly, searching for a way out. But what if this desolate landscape is actually an opportunity to encounter God in a deeper way?
My own wilderness lasted for six long years, marked by sleepless nights and endless vomit. But it was the deeper realities of what I was being denied – a healthy, normally sleeping son – and what I was being given – a fragile, tube-fed son with delays and frightening medical circumstances – that truly tested my faith.
I longed for certainty about my son’s development, but instead, I was given an abundance of uncertainty and an opportunity to trust God. I wanted to control the storyline, but God had other plans. He was holding onto me, propelling me into a story I hadn’t prepared for.
The Wilderness of Hagar
Hagar, too, found herself in the wilderness not once, but twice. The first time, she fled after Sarai dealt harshly with her. An angel of the Lord came to her, speaking words of command and comfort. Hagar responded by exclaiming a twofold truth – that she had seen the God who sees.
Her second time in the wilderness, God not only saw her but heard the voice of her son and came to do his eye-opening work once again. He opened her eyes so that she could see water, and she and her son were saved.
The Greatest Danger
The wilderness exists for sight – both to know that we are seen by God and to have our tightly shut eyes opened to see the seeing God. The greatest danger is not the trial itself, but that we would be blind to God’s presence. We must never believe that our wilderness is out of his plan, away from his providing hand, and obscuring his line of sight.
A Gift of Sight
In my darkest moments, I was tempted to question whether God was the seeing God that he has revealed himself to be. Did he see the many nights our bed was soaked with formula? Had he noticed my new slippers and all my shoes splattered with vomit? The fact is, he could see, and he did see.
What took me too long to understand was that those circumstances were his gift of sight to me. He stripped away so many things I thought I needed, and in doing so, he made one precious and irreplaceable gift come better into focus: himself.
Dependence, Not Self-Reliance
The wilderness is a place that requires dependence, not self-reliance. This is where God’s covenant people Israel went so terribly wrong. Israel’s wilderness lasted for forty years, a result of their disobedience, and it repeatedly showcased their rejection of God.
Jesus, who was all that Israel should have been, was in the wilderness for forty days. He was not there as a result of disobedience but because of his obedience to the Spirit, and he repeatedly demonstrated his reliance on God.
The God Who Sees
Our God is the God who sees, and even more than Hagar, we have had our eyes opened to see the very image of God, the exact imprint of his nature, the revealing of his glory – our Savior, Redeemer, and perfect friend, the Lord Christ.
In the wilderness, we are given a choice: to rely on ourselves or to depend on God. May we, like Jesus, feast on God’s words and find satisfaction in his provision. May we see beyond the wilderness and the cross to the joy set before us at God’s right hand.
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